A few hours before Saul "Canelo" Alvarez makes his debut in Saudi Arabia at ANB Arena, Amir Khan sits in the outdoor courtyard of a juice bar 15km across the city.

As large fans and a cold mist spray help to keep the 40 degree heat bearable, Khan reflects on his own Cinco de Mayo encounter with the Mexican legend — or at least what he can remember of it.

“I can’t even remember getting hit," Khan says. "I was knocked out before I hit the floor. That was the best shot I ever got hit with.”

The punch in question was the devastating right hand which landed with around 20 seconds left of the sixth round. Khan, who jumped up from welterweight to middleweight for the chance to win the WBC world title, had been boxing well until that point and one judge even had him 48-47 up after five.

But Canelo had been using the early rounds to set a trap, consistently stabbing to the body with the jab. So, when Canelo feinted downstairs, Khan lowered his hands to defend himself, which gave Canelo the chance to land the textbook cross to the chin. It was May 7, 2016, nine years ago this month, and it remains arguably Canelo’s most chilling finish.

“The only thing I remember of the knockout was Virgil Hunter saying to me, 'Don’t set your feet’,” Khan says of his trainer's instructions. “I remember taking a little step forward and only stopped my feet for a split second. Why? Because he feinted to the body and I stopped to defend.

“That shot he caught me with was just so precise. In a way I’m glad that it was only one shot that knocked me out. I took no damage, just one big punch. There are fighters out there who took more punishment over the course of a 12-round fight against him.

“But me? It was one shot — boom — gone. It’s like having a car accident. One bang, that’s it. For me, that was peak Canelo.”

A few hours later, the 34-year-old from Guadalajara looked nothing like the force he did that night, or for the majority of the nine years since. Instead, Alvarez tried and failed to pin down the slippery William Scull over the course of 12 uneventful rounds, eventually winning a unanimous decision.

Given the pair combined to throw a total of just 445 punches, a Compubox record-low for a 12-rounder, it was a fight that could be described as a promoter’s nightmare. Something which these days Khan himself will have to be wary of.

It is now more than three years since the 38-year-old last boxed, another sixth-round stoppage, this time at the hands of his rival on the domestic scene Kell Brook. And, although a comeback has been mooted across the course of the last 39 months, Khan now has no intention of boxing again.

But in June he will return to the sport which has consumed the last three decades of his life in a different capacity.

“We’re going promotional now,” he says.

“I used to give it my all in the ring but the last time, against Brook, I just didn’t have it in me anymore. I didn’t have that fire in my belly anymore. I think that’s when I realised that the fire’s just gone now. Normally I would have that hope for when I go to war, but I didn’t have the war in me.

“Before I left the changing room that night I remember looking up at the clock and thinking, 'It’s going to be over in about an hour and I will be back in my hotel room chilling.' I just wanted it over with.

“I do miss fighting and I think most of us would like to get in the ring again but, to be honest with you, this new venture is probably the closest I’m going to get.”

The former unified super lightweight champion kicks off his career as an international promoter in Ghana on June 13 with a show titled Battle of the Beasts, headlined by an eight-round contest between former cruiserweight world title challenger Andrew Tabiti and local puncher Jacob Dickson. Elsewhere on the card, which is a joint event with Legacy Promotions, the recently unretired Londoner Ohara Davies faces Tanzanian Mohammed Aliseni.

Khan hopes this inauspicious start to his life as a promoter will provide him the opportunity to learn his trade before attempting to stage shows in the UK and USA, where all of his big nights took place.

“I don’t think I’ll make any mistakes but I always look at the worst-case scenario,” Khan explains. “So I’ll learn my trade in Ghana. I love boxing and this is an opportunity to help me stay in the game and to move me forward.

“I’ve seen it all as a fighter so I know what it takes to promote a fight. But the thing I want most is to help these young fighters in the right way. If you have a big name as a promoter, like Oscar De La Hoya, it helps take it to a certain level. I want to take AK Promotions to that level and I’ve got good people around me to help make that happen.

“I want to show broadcasters how good our events can be and then we will take it from there really.”

After famously winning silver at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens at 17, Khan turned professional with Frank Warren amid much fanfare. And, although he went on to work with almost every major promoter in the sport, he still believes that "Uncle Frank" was the best of the lot.

“He was so good at what he did,” Khan says. “I had a good career with Frank Warren. I had 19 fights with him and they were all good ones — I only lost once along the way.

“He was a very good matchmaker as well as a good promoter. He knows how to promote a show in the right way. I like him a lot and I still see him now. But actually, I’ve always kept in touch with every promoter I’ve worked with.

“And when you think about it, I’ve made millions for these guys; from Eddie Hearn, Frank, Golden Boy, Bob Arum, Ben Shalom. And that’s being the main event fighter as well. So now I want to see where the loyalty lies — are they going to give me the love back that I gave them when I was a fighter? I’m a promoter now so I want them to give me a hand as well. I’m still learning.”

Even so, there is no denying Khan is aiming big as he takes his first steps into promotion. And given what he achieved inside the ring, it may be unwise to write him off outside it.

“I want to rub shoulders with all of those big promoters,” he says. “I want to guide a fighter from the start of his career and get him to that world title level.

“If I’m going to do it I’m going to go all out aren’t I? I’m going to give it everything to get to the highest point I can get to. If it means winning world titles, unifying, becoming undisputed then that’s what I want.

“I’m the type of person that wants to take over the sport. When I put my head and my heart to something, I want to get the best I possibly can out of it.”