Amir Khan does not do enough training between fights and is letting his skills deteriorate, says the British boxer’s trainer Virgil Hunter.
Khan, 32, lost to WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in Aprilwhen his corner controversially pulled him out after he received a low blow.
Crawford questioned whether the former world champion had “quit”.
Asked if he would like Khan to retire, Hunter told BBC Sport he would give his fighter “the benefit of the doubt”.
Hunter added: “I would like to see him commit to many training camps in between fights and to work on his weaknesses before he makes that final decision to really see if his skills are gone, or if he is just letting them lay in a pile and deteriorate slowly.
“He never has practice in between fights. He trains hard for 10 weeks but it’s not enough.”
Khan now has 33 wins and five defeats on a professional record spanning 14 years.
The 2004 Olympic silver medallist last held world titles in 2011, after overcoming stellar names such as Zab Judah, Marcos Maidana and Paulie Malignaggi as he became unified light-welterweight champion.
But after defeat at middleweight by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2016, Khan took 23 months away from competition and since returning had picked up two wins before his defeat by Crawford.
Following the loss to the talented American, 5 Live boxing analyst Steve Bunce praised Khan’s heart but said he at times looked “awkward” and “should retire now”.
“There’s little things that he does that cause him to be out of sync,” added Hunter.
“His timing is off. His distance is not where it should be. He doesn’t have a sense of range and distance and those things are not due to age. That’s from practice.
“His hand speed is still there but his sense of distance and range is not there and that’s what he needs to work on.”
