Amir Khan believes Kevin Mitchell can bounce back from his defeat to Michael Katsidis and return to the ring a better fighter.
World champion backs Mitchell to learn from Katsidis loss
Amir Khan believes Kevin Mitchell can bounce back from his defeat to Michael Katsidis and return to the ring a better fighter.
Mitchell suffered the first defeat of his professional career last weekend as he was emphatically beaten inside three rounds by the Australian at Upton Park.
Afterwards Mitchell, 25, revealed that his preparation for the clash had been hindered by a series of personal problems.
Khan was a similar predicament to Mitchell after he went down to his first professional loss - a crushing opening-round knockout against Breidis Prescott in September 2008.
However, he has since rebuilt his career and gone on to become a world champion and believes Mitchell is capable of following in his footsteps provided he knuckles down.
"I have seen a few clips and the best man won the fight," Khan said of Katsidis' victory.
Not prepared
"It seems Kevin went into the fight not prepared. Katsidis is a tough fighter, very durable, and you saw what happened on the night.
"I have heard that his preparation and training in the camp wasn't right and he had a lot of problems before the fight.
"That was a massive fight for him that would have made him a big star, especially in the States because Katsidis is a big name. But I'm sure he will learn from that and bounce back stronger.
"For him to come back I think he needs to beat another big name - someone like John Murray - in Britain and then that will put him back up to where he needs to be.
"He needs to get in the gym, train hard and forget about the defeat.
"I remember being defeated and coming back - it is tough and he needs to get his confidence back up.
"I think it won't be too hard for him and he is still young. But he needs to get focused, keep winning and make no more mistakes."
