Is Khan’s Chin Too Weak to Beat Kotelnik?
May 29th, 2009
By Sean McDaniel: As I read about this and that fighter wanting to get a piece of lightweight Amir Khan (20-1, 15 KOs), a thing that many people are forgetting is that Khan may not get past his next opponent WBA light welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik in their June 27th fight at the O2 Arena, in London. Khan, 22, is making a move up in weight to take the fight and hasn’t shown that he can beat top contenders at the lower lightweight division, let alone an actual champion.
However, Kotelnik has more power than he’s getting credit for and he could very well flatten Khan if he can hit him. With Khan, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a big shot to the chin, because he was staggered by a jab from Breidis Prescott, the Colombian fighter that knocked Khan out in the 1st round last year.
Khan has been dropped by a number of other lightweights with only marginal power, and yet they were able to hurt Khan.
Right now, Khan is feeling good about himself after dominating Marco Antonio Barrera in their five round bout before it was stopped due to a cut above Barrera’s left eye on his forehead. That fight seems to have given Khan the impression that he’s improved from his knockout loss to Prescott.
Another way of looking at the win, however, is that the 35-year-old Barrera was a handpicked opponent who was well past his best years in the sport and had no business fighting at lightweight. The win proves little other than Khan could beat a fighter that is smaller than him and past his prime.
Kotelnik, though, appears to be fighting at a much higher level than Barrera, and looked good in beating Argentinean knockout artist Marcos Rene Maidana by a 12-round split decision in February. The kinds of shots that Maidana hit Kotelnik in that fight would have probably put Khan in serious trouble if not knocking him unconscious. Kotelnik took the shots and fired back with his own power shots each time and traded blows with Maidana for the full 12 rounds, even getting the better of him in the late action.
Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach is probably tooling Amir to stay on the move for a full 12 rounds and avoid mixing it up with Kotelnik. That is going to be impossible for Khan to do, because he’s not good at moving constantly without getting tagged every once in awhile. Khan seems to get overconfident at times and gets caught up with the crowd applause after he lands his combinations.
That will likely be his undoing against Kotelnik, because when Khan comes in trying to fire away with power shots, Kotelnik will probably hit him with a moderately hard shot that will, because of Khan’s brittle chin, leave him stretched out on the canvas wondering where he’s at. When a fighter is knocked out like Khan was against Prescott, they have a tendency to get knocked out even easier in the future.
Tags: 5 Responses to “Is Khan’s Chin Too Weak to Beat Kotelnik?”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
hi there,
khan was totaly outclassed against prescott, although i believe he did get caught hard and very very early in to the round.
it is also important to remember that the shots that put khan down first time round were power shots and all on the button so to speak,any lightweight would have gone down, the shot that did the most damage was the shot that landed on his temple,it was a short chopping clubbing type of hook that involved prescott totaly ussing his total hip power to land that one, further to this khans head was traveling in the direction of the punch which is known to maximise damage.
Anyways his chin is not suspect! he just has not had the right pepole around him to ensure his body,fitness,power aswell as chin maturity develope and come accustomed to hard hitters at a progressive rate.he should have cleared up the domestic scene then fight in america and mix it with the south american fighters at the upper domestic level to hone his defence and chin before engaging with the likes of world class opponents. he has speed although his power will be the one to watch to see if he can generate power at this new weight?
if he can myths such as Khan punches with his arms can be written off, personaly i dont think he is the complete ticket although a win over kotelnik will help confidence etc. for a guy his frame he should have more power as even GOMEZ stated that it was his speed that was exceptional not his power.But I bet with the ROACH GURU in his corner Khan can become a world class champ as roach turned the likes of Paqman in to modern day legends,considering Pacman was once nocked out badly early in his career.
I would like to see Khan rematch Prescott when he has a bit more boxing wizardary behind him and KO Presscott, truly in the realms of boxing only that can omit the 1st round KO loss.
Why did Sean McDaniel feel so compelled to write this article. He has stated the obvious that Khan has a weak chin, we all know that Sean, we have known this for the last 3 years, who do you take us for? Only you have eyes and ears, we dont?
He says that ‘another way of looking at the win, however, is that the 35-year-old Barrera was a handpicked opponent who was well past his best years in the sport and had no business fighting at lightweight’ – Okay he was hand picked, we know this already Sean and we also know that he was well passed his best, when did you figure that out Sean? And who are you to dictate wether Barerra has a right to fight at lightweight or not?
You say that ‘when Khan comes in trying to fire away with power shots, Kotelnik will probably hit him with a moderately hard shot that will, because of Khan’s brittle chin, leave him stretched out on the canvas wondering where he’s at’. Now is that so Sean? are you sure Kotelnik won’t do a karate kick and a few black flips just to please the crowd, then take a trip to Ireland and down a pint in 10 seconds before he comes back to the ring and KO’s Khan.
Why do you always state the obvious Sean.
If Khans chin is to weak for this fight its the end of the road. I think he will do the job here we will have to see.
This fight isn’t going to come down to a KO, I see it going the distance.
Kotelnik isn’t renowned for his knock out power, that’s not to say he doesn’t have any power punches, but the improvements to Khans defence and Roach giving the instructions in the corner, he won’t be as stupid as he once was.
I do believe Kotelnik is being overlooked in this one though, if you believe everything you hear, Khans won already. Khan has the ability to stick and move, keeping on the outside, but once he gets going, Kotelnik will chase him all night.
An interesting match up but still a dodge from Khans point of view.
Very biased
I dont think khans chin is as weak as people believe it is.