Amir Khan: Knockout Loss Doesn't Dim Briton's Bright Future

Amir Khan's knockout loss to Danny Garcia in the fourth round of their junior welterweight unification bout was disappointing to say the least, but it doesn't spell the end for Khan's ascent up the boxing ranks.

Khan is one of boxing's most exciting young fighters. He fills an important role in a boxing world devoid of superstar prospects.

After his loss to Garcia, Khan is 26-3 with 18 career knockouts. At 25 years old, that's a very good mark to have, and it's not like Garcia is a slouch. He entered this fight in the same position as Khan. He's a young hot-shot fighter looking for his one "big"shot. He wound up moving to 24-0 with the 15th knockout of his young career.

This fight will set these two fighters in two different directions for the immediate future, but don't expect Khan to stay down. He's sound mentally and physically, and he's extremely talented. There's nothing about him that suggests a major collapse.

This is Khan's second straight loss. He lost to Lamont Peterson in December by split decision, but he'd won eight straight matches prior to that. He beat Zab Judah and Andreas Kotelnik in that stretch.

He's a proven fighter given his age. He knows what it takes to bounce back. His first career loss came via knockout to Breidis Prescott. In his next fight, he scored a TKO on Oisin Fagan. He found a way to focus himself enough to bounce back from a tough loss once. What says he can't do it again?

Khan definitely took a step back with this loss, but he isn't out. He fought valiantly for three-and-a-half rounds, but he got caught with one too many exchanges. He went down as an extremely exciting bout came to a close.

No one likes to lose, but Khan is too talented to let it impact him in the long-term. I wouldn't want to be his next opponent.