Kid Khan grows into fighting man

And just in case those dolts who have been screaming for Khan to be rushed to the top find it convenient to forget, be sure we will remind them of how eager they were to jeopardise the dream.

A similar jolt to the memory awaits those at ringside in the O2 Dome, who abandoned hope and ran for the river boats up the Thames because Khan hit the canvas for the first time in his professional career. Boxing is not all about getting knocked down.

It has more to do with how a man reacts to that temporary paralysis of the nervous system.

So remember also the immortal Joe Louis, who on occasion impersonated a yo-yo but who invariably got up to 'Brown Bomber' the rest of the world's best heavyweights.

A suspect chin? Maybe. An unbreakable heart? Certainly.

Nothing better could have happened to Khan in his 13th prize fight at the age of 20 than the test to which he was put by an opponent chiselled from the cobbles of Glasgow's meanest streets.

Be grateful to Willie Limond, too. This unheralded Scot - for once given the training time and the incentive to come out punching for glory - put up the fight of his life. By so doing, he gave Khan his bruised and lacerated chance to prove himself a natural-born boxer and an authentic fighter.

If the right-hand flooring of Khan gave the nay-sayers their chance to question his ability to take a punch as well as the artistry of his defence, then the blazing ferocity of his recovery hallmarked this young man as a genuine champion in the making.

While it was Khan's senses which were scrambled in the sixth round, it was Limond's jaw which was broken by the end of the bloodspitting eighth.

Where Khan rose from his eight-count not only to survive the ensuing barrage, but also to come raging back at this indignity, Limond was unable to come out for the ninth.

Khan was gratified to win his first title by relieving Limond of his Commonwealth lightweight belt.

He is bright enough to learn from this experience. Learn, not least, to close his ears to the siren songs of moneymen who would hasten him to an uncertain fate and to listen instead to promoter Frank Warren when he tells him that world titles come to those who wait.

There are other lessons to absorb. Khan admitted that when he talked about "realising now that I have to keep my hands up, tuck in my chin instead of hanging it out, be patient instead of lunging after the quick knock-out... and that the better the opponent, the longer you need to break them down before finishing them off."

Good boy. Not that he was alone in getting a lesson. ITV discovered Khan can thrill in their new six-fight deal without risking all in a premature title challenge.

This made for exciting television and my spies tell me that ITV responded with a crisp production, albeit that they were away to the adverts when Limond was retired by the doctor.

If they required supporting evidence that Khan needs pacing to the summit, it was forthcoming in Nicky Cook's equally compelling but less rewarding challenge for the vacant WBO featherweight title.

It was now or never for Dagenham's local hero but his one shot at the big-time came against a smooth southpaw from America.

Steve Luevano is no Barrera or Morales - nor a Hamed, even - but he gave Cook a bloody taste of what was to come with a flattening right hook in the second, and proceeded to outclass and outpoint a gallant but increasingly desperate Englishman, who was floored five times in a fight ended by a vicious 11th-round body shot.

There, but for the good sense of Warren, might have gone our future world lightweight champion. But Khan is too precious for that.

Thankfully, the dazzling handspeed and killer instinct now have the benefit of more valuable experience.

Another reminder - that of how important this Bolton-born son of Pakistan has become to Anglo-Muslim relations - was among the crowd; the turbanned Sikh figure of England spinner Monty Panesar. Our Amir's big night will come.

Khan's next fight is in Nottingham on October 6 and there will be at least four more learning fights before taking on tough Graham Earl for the British crown.

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