Khan: easy-going

We had a crazy, fun roller-coaster ride with Naseem Hamed in the nineties and it reminds me very much of that time again. Boxing goes in cycles - whenever a star fighter retires, you wonder where the next one's going to come from. But they do. That's the beauty of our sport.

Adam Smith
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KHAN v PRESCOTT
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British boxing's on a real high after James DeGale's gold in the Beijing Olympics.

It was a fabulous effort; so too Tony Jeffries and David Price with their bronze medals. I was bitterly disappointed about Frankie Gavin's withdrawal.

His talent is obvious, and Alex Arthur (who defends his world super-featherweight title in a cracker with Nicky Cook on Sky Box Office on Saturday) raves about Frankie and says he is the future. Of the others involved, Billy Joe Saunders is very much one to keep track of.

Our most famous Olympian of recent times is of course Bolton's boy wonder Amir Khan, who struck silver in Athens. It's fabulous news that Khan will now bring his skills and class in and out of the ring to Sky. There should be some really thrilling nights ahead.

Straight off my summer break, I was up to Bolton with my long-serving cameraman David Caine to meet the Khan family and hopefully see the start of another boxing boom for us all.

We had a crazy, fun roller-coaster ride with Naseem Hamed in the nineties and it reminds me very much of that time again. Boxing goes in cycles - whenever a star fighter retires, you wonder where the next one's going to come from. But they do. That's the beauty of our sport.

Similarities

There are many similarities and parallels in Khan's move from terrestrial television to that of Hamed's back in 1995. Like Khan, the 'Prince' was 21 at the time and came with a terrific early record of 17 wins with 15 knockouts.

Khan arrives unbeaten in 18 - 14 by KO. Hamed had two warm-up outings before he dismantled Steve Robinson to win the world featherweight title; expect Khan to have three, maybe four more educational fights before he challenges for the world lghtweight crown.

But in terms of character he's more like Ricky Hatton than Naseem Hamed. Khan does possess an inner steel and self-confidence but he's very down to earth, accessible and easy-going. Like Ricky, Amir does so much for his fans too.

Ironically, when Khan was starting to get serious about the sport at 11, he did a school project on Naz. Amir wrote a letter to the fighter he wanted to emulate, and never got a response.

From that day onwards he always insisted that if he ever became a role model himself, he would make sure every fan writing in got a reply.

They do today. There's bucketloads of fan mail - from young kids to grandmothers - some of which is even just addressed to 'Amir Khan, Bolton.' It always gets to him.

We really didn't know quite what to expect on our first shoot. What we found was a fabulous set-up. A really tight-knit team who are amicable and professional. They are all based in a brand new community centre and gym.

Amir has the same old friends he's always had, and is extremely close to his family. They were so warm and inviting; Amir's dad Shah, who has never missed one of his son's bouts - amateur or pro - seems delightful; there's his Uncle Taz who's instrumental, his sister Tabinda who cooks all of Amir's food, his younger boxing brother Haroon, his manager Asif and many more.

Like with Hamed and Hatton, let's hope for another exciting chapter in the Sky boxing story.

Protégée

Khan has many assets: His lightening speed and reflexes; his discipline and dedication. These were really in evidence when we went to film him last week. I was impressed by just how quick he is up close.

Khan's critics would say that his defence can be leaky and there have been concerns about his punch resistance. Conditioning coach Phil Richards has been working hard on Khan's physique, and new trainer Jorge Rubio has been tightening their protégée up as he aims to turn him into the complete fighter.

Previous coach Oliver Harrison obviously did a good job in the early professional fights and should be credited. Rubio, an amiable Cuban based in Miami has done some work with David Haye and the exceptional prospect Yuriorkis Gamboa, but is little known. He believes it will take 12 to 18 months to turn Khan into a world champion.

All those dreams will be shattered if he blows it against Colombia's tall, wiry and dangerous Breidis Prescott on Saturday. My colleague Craig Slater went to see Prescott in Barranquilla and found a hungry, ambitious young man who comes from poverty and is desperate for a way out.

His record on paper is better than Khan's; 19 fights;19 wins; 17 knockouts. Yes, there are no real names and he has largely been based back home, but an unknown quantity is always a worrying prospect. Prescott will have the height advantage and has also campaigned at light-welterweight, so will surely be strong.

Speed may be the key for Khan here. Rubio has been working on Khan's body shots and uppercuts so he will be looking to break the Colombian down. Khan should be a class above, but Prescott can bang so it will be an exciting night at Manchester's MEN Arena - where many star boxing performers from Hamed to Tyson to Hatton have dazzled.

Improved

We kick off with a good hors' d'ouevre on our first Friday Fight Night of the new season - featuring one of our most improved fighters.

Rendall Munroe has burst onto the scene - jumping from English to European honours. The likeable Leicester binman will be joined by his fluorescent jacket-wearing fans for the second defence of the super-bantamweight crown he ripped from Kiko Martinez.

He meets French based-Armenian Arsen Martirosyan, a tough European campaigner. We're looking forward to watching Munroe's southpaw skills and seeing where this surprising journey takes us.

But it's the Amir Khan adventure which has everyone talking - he's seen as the most talented young fighter to emerge from Britain in some time.

As Hamed's former mentor Brendan Ingle always used to tell me: "Enjoy Naz while he's here. It will be a long time before another comes along."

Maybe, just maybe, one has. Amir Khan - the spotlight's on you.