Khan could be as big as Leonard or Ali - Hopkins
ESPN staff
December 10, 2011
WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion Amir Khan has the talent to force boxing into the mainstream, according to Bernard Hopkins.
Khan has been discussed as a potential pound-for-pound king ahead of his title defence against Lamont Peterson on Saturday in Washington, with a bout against Floyd Mayweather Jnr a possibility for next year.
But Hopkins, who earlier this year became the oldest man to win a world championship, has gone one step further by suggesting Khan could become one of the sport's all-time legends.
"He's young - 25 years old is a baby," Hopkins said. "I know I can still learn something but there isn't too much to learn at my age. But there is a whole encyclopaedia of knowledge waiting for him to learn. As years and fights go by, he will learn, one way or the other.
"He's part of the puzzle to take the sport forward. To lead it the whole way and carry boxing on your back is another question. That is about becoming that Oscar De La Hoya figure, or Mohammed Ali, or Ray Leonard. To carry the elite boxing on your back like those names ... He has the chance to do that but he has to do something outstanding against some outstanding opponents. It has to be opponents that we look at in the same way."
