BOLTON boxer Amir Khan believes tonight’s big fight against Devon Alexander in Las Vegas will show how far he has come under trainer Virgil Hunter.

Khan tops the bill at the MGM Grand and puts his WBC Silver welterweight title on the line in what is just his second fight at 147lbs after victory against Luis Collazo in May.

And as he looks to even bigger dates in 2015 with some of the sport’s big-hitters, Khan is determined to prove he is a better fighter than ever, a decade on from bursting into the public eye with his silver medal at the Athens Olympics.

Khan said: “We’re not the fighter that we were before.

“We fought Collazo, we’re much smarter. I think in the whole fight he got probably one good shot and I think everything else we were smarter because we didn’t rush in and be silly about fighting him or hurting him.

“So, I’m slowly, as I’m getting older I’m getting wiser and I’m getting more experience behind me and come fight night, hopefully we’ll know exactly what to do against Devon and we know not to make mistakes and we know he’s quick, so that makes you a little bit more on the edge.

“It makes you think more and it makes you smarter because you’ve got a guy in front of you who’s going to be quick and explosive and he wants to win.”

Khan has lost just three of 32 professional fights but has been victorious in his last three.

And he says the switch to train with Hunter has seen him improve each time he has got in the ring.

He also believes recent displays have dispelled any talk of having a fragile chin and he is confident against another southpaw in Alexander.

Khan added: “The shots I’ve been hit with in the past, I’ve run into those shots and I’ve been off balance and so when you get hit with a shot you go down.

“I make it look worse because I’m not in the right balance and my footwork’s all over the place. I run into a shot, and when you run into a shot it’s like you’re getting hit twice as hard, so these are things we’ve kind of cleaned up a little bit and been more smart about when we attack and not jumping in with our chin in the air and stuff like that.

“The shots I’ve been hit with, I think whichever fighter gets hit with those shots they are going to go down.

“It’s just the way I made those mistakes, going in when someone is shot and not having any defence, and when you rush into a shot and you don’t see the punch coming it hurts you twice as much.

“But we cleaned it up and I box really well against southpaw guys. Devon is going to bring something else to the table, but I have the confidence behind me that so far every southpaw I’ve fought I’ve beaten.

“Devon brings hand speed to the table. He brings movement, likes to be aggressive, so we’re going to be ready for whatever he brings to the table, and whatever he does we’re going to have answers for.

"What Virgil brought to the table, he made me a better fighter, he made me an understanding fighter, who understands what boxing’s all about and not to make any mistakes. I’m not going back to my old self again.

"For this fight I must have done over 160 rounds of sparring, which helps, because the only way of putting it together and seeing where you are, seeing what you’re up to is when you put it to work."