Khan Hungry to Make Prescott Eat His Words Over 'pampered' Jibe

Amir Khan is predicting a knockout victory at the MEN Arena in Manchester tonight to maintain his unbeaten record when he makes his debut as a pay-per-view TV attraction against the Colombian Breidis Prescott, who also boasts an undefeated professional record. Some provocative quotes have been attributed to Prescott since he arrived in Britain, which may be linked to the fact that armchair fans are being asked to pay £14.95 for the Sky Box Office event. Prescott has apparently described Khan as "a pampered baby" who will be knocked out inside four rounds and sent from the ring "crying in pain".

Perhaps it is only tongue-in-cheek hype but Khan, 21, seems to have bitten: "Five or six rounds and this guy will be out. I've seen videos and he's not fought anyone like me. He can't match my speed. People come into fights against me and say this and that but, when they realize how quick and how hard I hit, their game plan disappears. He will be no different, and will find that I'm harder, faster and sharper. If he does make it through to 12 rounds, he'll take a lot of punishment. He has made a big mistake saying he will knock me out in four or five rounds."

Prescott stands at over 6ft, unusually tall for a lightweight, and likes to fight at range while Khan, under the watchful eye of his new Cuban trainer Jorge Rubio, has trained specifically with that in mind. Body shots, fast combinations and plenty of lateral movement should be the key factors in a successful night for Khan: such is the theory fighter and trainer espouse.

The Briton is rated by the bookmakers as a 33-1 on favorite but Prescott has a puncher's chance, although his opponents have been nowhere near world-class, with 17 of the 19 stopped inside the distance. Khan's record suggests vulnerability against a genuine puncher, a point underlined in his previous fight, against Michael Gomez. Before securing a stoppage victory, Khan was floored by a left hook and badly stunned.

The promoter Frank Warren draws parallels with other fighters whose careers he guided, and argues that both Naseem Hamed (who went on to become the world's most exciting and marketable featherweight) and the former world middleweight and super-middleweight champion Nigel Benn were in bouts early in their professional life where they were badly hurt yet managed to win.

"Look at Naz against Daniel Alicea," said Warren. "Naz was down in the first round but got up and stopped him in the second. Then there was Benn against Anthony Logan. It was only Nigel's 19th fight, he was down in the first and all over the place in the second. Benn looked gone, and he found a left hook that knocked Logan out. My point is that Hamed and Benn were both world champions. They could get hit, but still won. It was part of what made them so popular."

It is Khan's apparent fragility allied to his speed and an innate fighting aptitude that makes him such an attraction that Warren is prepared to gamble on him as a pay-per-view draw after only 18 contests and the Commonwealth title, the only meaningful belt he has collected so far.

Edinburgh's Alex Arthur, who was awarded the World Boxing Organization super-featherweight title when Joan Guzmán of the Dominican Republic relinquished it to step up a division and campaign as a lightweight, makes his first title defence against Dagenham's Nicky Cook. Also on the under card, Audley Harrison will try to keep his dream of a world heavyweight title shot alive when he faces the Brazilian champion George Arias.