By Shawn Krest

Saturday night in Manchester, an exciting young prospect will step into the ring. Busy and successful, he is undefeated in nearly twenty fights since he turned pro in 2005. Just about every fight has ended in knockout, as the flashy fighter’s punching power has enthralled hometown crowds.

However, despite his success, he is still a raw fighter, and recent struggles may indicate future roadblocks on the road to superstardom. In his most recent fight, he barely escaped with his undefeated mark still intact. Critics could also point to the fact that he rarely strays far from home and wonder how he will perform without a friendly crowd behind him.

He is former Olympic silver medalist and British boxing prodigy Amir Khan.

He is also Colombian knockout artist Breidis Prescott.

The two will be stepping into the ring against each other, and, as the clichéd ring introduction goes, something’s got to go.

It could be Khan’s mystique that ends up going. As a teenager in 2004, Khan used an Olympic silver medal to captivate a nation the way that Sugar Ray Leonard did a generation earlier on the other side of the Atlantic.

Unlike many Olympic success stories, Khan’s flashy style translated to the pros, and his popularity has soared since he began fighting sans headgear and shirt. Unlike many Olympians, he progressed quickly and steadily. He fought his last four-rounder in his fourth pro fight. That was also his last bout against an opponent with a losing record. To put that in perspective, consider that fellow ’04 Olympian Willy Blain went eight rounds with a 9-15-2 fighter just over a year ago. Gold medalist Andre Ward fought 7-10-1 Julio Jean a year and a half ago. Bronze medalist Andre Dirrell took on the immortal Shannon Miller (23-38-8) in February.

After knocking out four of his five six-round opponents, Khan made brief pit stops at the eight and ten round length before moving into the championship rounds to stay. He fought his first twelve rounder in his thirteenth fight. By comparison, Jermain Taylor fought a twelve rounder for the first time in fight number sixteen, and, at the same point in their careers, he had fought in twelve-rounders just twice, compared to Khan’s six.

Sugar Ray Leonard had fought just once at that length at the same point in his career.

Still, there have been some warning signs. Despite a four inch height advantage, Khan was floored by Willie Limond last July, taking a surprising amount of punishment while trying to survive a rough sixth round. Limond also wobbled Khan two rounds earlier.

In his most recent bout, Khan went down again, this time at the hands of journeyman Michael Gomez. With three losses in his last six bouts, all by TKO, Gomez appeared to be a showcase for the wunderkind. Instead, Khan saw himself looking up at the 31-year old veteran after absorbing a second-round left hand.

Khan’s handlers shrugged off both setbacks, telling British papers that Khan “ran into” Limond’s punch, and disregarding the Gomez knockdown as “annoying.” Clearly, however, defense is an area where the Amir Khan package still needs a little more polishing.

The showings, while troubling, didn’t slow Khan’s ascent. Saturday will be his first appearance as a pay-per-view headliner. While nerves might be a factor, Khan appears ready to take his place as the next British boxing star, fighting in the same arena that saw Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton’s biggest victories. Khan is also clearly the most exciting prospect the sport has offered since Joel Julio captivated fans a few years ago while bringing his heavy hands north from Colombia.

Julio’s home nation has produced another hard-hitting Colombian in Breidis Prescott. He may not have created the same buzz as his predecessor, but Prescott has left his share of concussions in his wake in the first three years of his career.

Prescott’s punching power appears to match up with Khan’s questionable chin, posing perhaps the biggest test that the budding British star has faced in his young career. He arrived in England and reported that he’d accidentally broken his trainer’s finger during work with pads in preparation for the bout. Further working in Prescott’s favor, he is the bigger fighter, having fought as high as light welterweight and matching Khan’s height. He’s also four year’s older.

Prescott has an impressive record, with seventeen knockouts in nineteen career fights, including eleven in the first two rounds. However, his quality of opposition has been questionable, to put it nicely. Twelve of his nineteen opponents have sported losing records. Nearly half (nine) were winless on their career. And his first seventeen career fights were in his home nation of Colombia, including eleven in his home town of Barranquilla. Still, fighting in Colombia isn’t exactly the type of cushy, protected environment that most hometown fighters enjoy.

Living at the center of violent drug cartel activity, Prescott told British papers he had to dodge gang shootings and kidnapping attempts just to make it to the gym to train.

In his last bout, Prescott pulled out a split decision over Richard Abril. The fight was a clear step up: Prescott’s first in the United States, and his best opponent—record-wise—to date.

It’s the stuff Pay-per-view was made for: Two undefeated fighters with high knockout percentages square off in Manchester. Someone will lose more than a fight. Either Khan’s rocket ride to the elite ranks of the sport will slow considerably, or a promising unknown will go back to his home nation to start over.