Those who were giving boxing the Last Rites - not to mention a few cynically-aimed left hooks - should be suitably chastened by the battered old sport's remarkable resurrection last weekend.

In Las Vegas and Liverpool there were fights which not only breathed new life into the game but indicated that the quality of Britain's talent should not be measured by the size of Audley Harrison's heart.

The former Olympic super-heavyweight champion's abject capitulation against David Haye, we were told, left boxing with one fist in the grave. But thanks to another couple of Olympians it is evidently alive and well, and still in there punching.

First to Las Vegas, where Amir Khan, lightweight silver medallist in Athens, demonstrated that apparently you can put muscles on chins. The 24-year-old from, Bolton, whom I have known and admired since he was a 15-year-old schoolboy sensation, not only survived in one of the best, and must brutal battles I have seen since Ali v Frazier (your actual Thrilla in Manila) 35 years ago, but demonstrated his worthiness to be recognised as a true warrior in the noblest traditions of the sport, and not a chinless wonder.

The WBA light-welterweight champion's epic victory over number one contender Marcos Maidana made compelling viewing here for those Sky Box Office subscribers who had not been turned off after splashing out £14.95 ($23.35) on the travesty that was Haye v Harrison.

Now it is the stigma of that embarrassingly brief encounter, not boxing itself, which needs to be killed off and unceremoniously buried.

A few hours earlier, in Liverpool, James DeGale, who four years after Khan's achievement as Britain's lone ring ranger became the Olympic middleweight champion in Beijing, struck gold again by brilliantly acquiring the British super-middleweight title from one of boxing's hard men, Paul Smith, in only his ninth pro bout - and in the Liverpudlian's backyard.

With Nathan Cleverly, albeit comparatively uninspiringly on the night, taking the WBO interim world light-heavyweight title, and Sheffield welterweight Kell Brook, an ambitious and accomplished young man in the same charismatic mould as Khan (pictured) and Naseem Hamed, establishing his own future world credentials, it was an emphatic reminder that British boxing does have talent.

Especially when you toss into the ring the names of Haye, Carl Froch, and Ricky Burns, who hold versions of the world heavyweight, super-middleweight and super-featherweight titles respectively, with unbeaten prospects Frankie Gavin and BillyJoe Saunders - fellow members of Frank Warren's Olympian elite - waiting in the wings.

Instead of being out on its feet, boxing in Britain is actually healthier than it has been for many years, both at professional and amateur levels.



One lesson that Rob McCracken's current GB amateur squad should absorb from Khan and DeGale is the wisdom of waiting for a shot at the Olympic podium in 2012 before turning pro. A medal of any colour can be converted into a fortune almost before the vest and headguard have been taken off.

This is something of which Tom Stalker, a genuine hope for a gold medal in London two years hence after his Commonwealth Games gold and European silver, should be particularly cognisant.

He has already received a number of overtures from the professional game, but as a Scouser Olympic medallist his potential would be huge, not least because he would sell out the magnificent 11,000 capacity Echo Arena in home town Liverpool every time he fights.

This was also the venue for this year's inaugural GB Amateur Championships.

Stalker already has a massive fan base and on-line following and with the Echo Arena as his stage surely could emulate Khan and DeGale and be fast-tracked towards a world title when he goes pro after 2012.

It is a curious fact that no British Olympic gold medal winner as ever gone on to win a professional world title. Terry Spinks and Chris Finnegan both fell short of this target while Dick McTaggart never turned pro.

I have a hunch that 24-year-old "Chunky" DeGale will re-write history in this respect. He is now really looking the business.

Next up for DeGale should be an initial title defence against the one he calls "that ugly ginger kid", George Groves, who beat him as an amateur and is similarly unbeaten as a pro. It is a natural pairing but one which boxing politics probably precludes as they are in rival promotional camps. Shame.

Another tasty fight for the future would see Khan pitted against the phenomenal Manny Pacquiao. But that won't happen politically either because they are rivals and spar-mates within the same camp - in any case The Pacman wants to concentrate on a career in real politics as a freshly-elected Congressman in the Philippines parliament.

Alas, his valedictory fight in April is unlikely to be the one the world wants to see, with Floyd Mayweather in the opposite corner.

Mayweather is currently occupied with assault charges which carry a potential jail term.

However if and when he becomes available he can expect a precious challenge from Khan, now US promotional company Golden Boy's hottest property, late next year. But moving up to welterweight against someone of Mayweather's clout carries graver risks than the one he undertook against Maidana, the most devastating puncher in the 140lb division. Ask Ricky Hatton.

Khan does not need more wars like this. Such was the intensity of the attrition that even Naseem Hamed is worried about the effect on his future. "I saw a great friend and brother go through some tough times and I don't ever want to see that again," he says.

"He must have a heart as big as a bucket of gold to take on the biggest hitter and most dangerous man in his division, but fights like that can shorten your career."

It could be argued that had this great fight been a month earlier Khan would have been short-listed as a contender for this weekend's BBC Sports Personality of the Year award alongside fellow fighter Haye – who finally seems destined to get in the ring with Wladimir Klitschko this spring.



Haye, Khan, DeGale (pictured) and a number of other big name boxers have been invited to be on parade in Birmingham on Sunday when the awards are made – but if Warren, Britain's senior promoter, had his way they would all be boycotting the show.

He tells me: "It is scandalous that the BBC refuses to screen professional boxing yet they still want the sport's celebrity names to dress up the audience for the cameras. It is total hypocrisy. I won't be going and I would like to think that Britain's boxers would stay away in protest. But of course that is up to them."

One reason for the Beeb blanking boxing is because of the cold they caught paying Audley Harrison £1 million ($1.5 million) following his Olympic win in Sydney 2000 and watch him lamentably under-achieve against a succession of hand-picked push-overs.

So, not for the first time has Harrison caused a TV turn-off.

The A-Farce certainly has a lot to answer for. Thank goodness Khan and co have had the gumption - and the talent - to hit back and restore boxing's credibility.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.