Hindsight is 20/20- especially when you’re sober. Nothing is more sobering right now than waking up Sunday morning feeling confused, angry, title-less, powerless, hopes of fighting Pacquiao and/or Mayweather out of the window and your name is Amir Khan.

Sunday hangovers are a unique experience. After riding the class 5 rapids known as the above mentioned emotions, we try to face the inevitable question, “what the fuck happened?!” It is in this moment, through this question, life offers us a precious opportunity to better our selves, that is, if, we’re honest with ourselves.

When facing the reality of our less than stellar moments in life, our first instinct is to blame everything on forces outside ourselves. After all, who wants to be the blame? Not you. But deep down inside, you know “what the fuck really happened.”

‘It was a blur, man. Everything happened so fast and before I knew it, shit got crazy,man!… And what about that ref, man? The ref robbed me.‘- is what you tell yourself. All the while you’re thinking to yourself, ‘it wasn’t blur, man.’

It’s all becoming clearer now. It was 36 minutes of non-stop action in which of that novice of a referee Joe Cooper warned you at least 10 times before deducting a point away from you. A moment of clarity rings through as you relive Joe Cooper separating you from LaMont Peterson to say, “stop pushing!”, at 1:52 left in the 6th round. You begin to sink even more when you remember Cooper saying “Last warning. Stop pushing!” at 1:21 left in the 6th round.

You blew it off and kept flurrying, circling. But when Lamont Peterson kept cutting the ring off and nailing you with hooks to body and the jaw, you gambled and were lucky to get away with a few more pushes only receiving a few more warnings up until :02 seconds left before the end of the 7th round. Peterson’s pressuring was frustrating you and you clearly bent over to push him off. That’s when Cooper yelled “Stop! Stop!”, called time and paraded you around the ring in the walk of shame to deduct 1 point.

As you continued to land good combos, that Peterson walked through like a man possessed, you became more desperate so you decided to ease up on the pushing and found new ways to slow Peterson down. ‘Surely Cooper won’t notice me grabbing LaMont’s head and holding it down, or locking his glove under my elbow, or me leaning over his head to keep him down?‘ Yes, Amir, he noticed and warned you every time.

Paterson turned up the heat in the 12th round just as you did Amir but the fire was too hot and out of desperation, with 1:56 left in the round, you lean forward with your had down, arms fully extended, and shoved LaMont Peterson back. Cooper wasn’t letting that one slide. Sound the band, time for the parade of shame again as you are penalized for your 2nd point deduction which cost you your title.

Damn it! ‘Peterson was all over me! I couldn’t get any breathing room to get off!’- you vehemently complained, but the fact of the matter is, it was your inside boxing deficiencies to blame, not Joe Cooper. Pleading your case to Larry Merchant did no good. Bernard Hopkins and De La Hoya’s pleas had the same effect.

Sure you felt like you were robbed of 1 knockdown, two points, your titles, and your reputation as an up and coming elite, and most importantly your big payday against Pacquiao or Mayweather in 2012. But right now, Khan, you need to focus on the areas you can improve your boxing skills in order to avoid another fight being so close. Then focus on redeeming yourself against LaMont Peterson and Breidis Prescott. Amir Khan, embrace the hangover. It’s sobering up time.