Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana: analysis
January 11th, 2010
By Daniel Ciminera: After having briefly mentioned this fight in a previous article when I had only had 24 hours to mull it over, I have now been away, watched the tapes, talked it over with friends and also ran over it a million times in my head. I have reached a conclusion of sorts and the only thing which will alter my train of thought will depend on which of each Khan and Maidana show up on the night. Maidana the ruthless assassin. Show off, cocky Khan. Two punch pony Maidana. Roach’s Khan. All could deviate the fight from what I think will happen.
I don’t feel Maidana hasn’t peaked yet. He is very sloppy at times, very easy to hit, especially when coming forward and appears to have no outside game whatsoever. He is then, an unfinished article. He fought his way to the top, earned a title shot versus Andreas Kotelnik and was exposed as a pretty one dimensional fighter at the very top level. Maidana then fought Vicious Victor Ortiz in a thrilling bout which saw four knock downs inside the first two rounds (three of which saw Maidana on the canvas) before Maidana hurt Ortiz badly at the end of the 5th round and looked set to take him out when the fight was stopped due to a cut above the right eye of Ortiz, who also had very severe swelling to his left eye from the previous round’s final exchange.
This is not to say he is hopeless, or that he doesn’t have a chance against Khan, because he most certainly does. What Maidana does, he does very well, he just needs probably a better trainer to add to the spectrum of tools he possesses. For his size, he is remarkably strong, he throws punches with immense ferocity and accuracy at times and when he smells a victory, he is relentless. I believe we were about to witness this in his bout against Victor Ortiz before the fight was stopped. And the straight right hand Maidana landed in the closing seconds of the fifth round would have stopped almost anyone in the division(if you haven’t seen the punch, go watch the fight back, it was one of the best punches in recent years in my opinion). It most certainly would have at the very least made Khan look like a baby giraffe trying to find it’s feet for the first time, or more likely, turned his lights off for the remainder of the evening.
One thing Maidana did do very well against Kotelnik, was cut the ring off. He came forward and backed him up all night long, which he will have to do even more proficiently against Khan. I mentioned earlier that Kotelnik had exposed him as a one dimensional fighter, this is because in the Kotelnik fight, he did not get his own way, he was not able to bully the Ukrainian, who has never been on the canvas, into throwing wild counter shots at him. Kotelnik, who is not the most exciting or ferocious boxer when on the attack, also managed to back up Maidana pretty successfully whenever he engaged him, frequently hitting him, especially with the overhand right. This is a weapon which appears to be quite a problem for Maidana as all his opponents that I have seen, have used it against him time and again. Even William Gonzalez, who appeared to have nothing to offer aside from slow, telegraphed punches, used this effectively against Maidana in the opening rounds before being dispatched in the third.
When comparing Khan and Maidana, Kotelnik is an invaluable resource since they have both fought him recently. Khan however did much better against a far busier Kotelnik, who did on several occasions, get into the fight and land with good clean shots, which to the amazement of many(including myself), Khan took in his stride, throwing his own shots back in reply and never seemed even mildly hurt by them. For me, Khan’s willingness to cover up and fight from the outside, utilising his jab and fast flurries to score points was the key to beating Kotelnik. Maidana was not capable of this and just threw his usual right hook lead followed by attempted left uppercuts over and over again any time he got Kotelnik to back up a little, hardly ever breaking through I may add.
To a certain extent, what Kotelnik did against Maidana was a more polished version of what Super-Middleweight punchbag, Daniel Carriqueo, the only other man to go the distance with Maidana, did early on in his career in a six-rounder. Keeping his guard up and absorbing a lot of the punches with his gloves, while moving in and out and using counter punches effectively. One key area Carriqueo exploited was Maidana’s own guard, which is very loose with pretty wide arms. There were occasions where Carriqueo was able to land multiple uppercuts through the wide guard, and at one point I believe I counted five consecutive right uppercuts without reply.
If Khan can employ similar tactics against Maidana, he will win. The problem is, all too often, Maidana manages to draw his opponents into slugging matches where his superior power comes out on top. Khan needs to be very very careful of this, as earlier in his career he had the tendency to lose his head a bit and get involved in that type of fight. But, with a suspect chin and a new, higher class of opponent, Khan will be punished for such machismo, and at this stage of his career he really could do with not being knocked out again just yet. Though in Khan’s defence, he does possess far greater hand speed than Maidana, or anyone else Maidana has ever faced, so perhaps if he does get caught up on occasion, he can use his speed to punch his way out before Maidana lets go with that short, straight right hand. Khan will also find that his speed allows him to almost hit Maidana at will throughout the bout, though not getting carried away and leaving himself open to counter will be key.
The main concern for people thinking about Khan’s ability to win, will be his defence and more importantly his “chin”, or punch resistance. While I have even said myself in the past that you cant train a fighter to withstand bigger punches, I believe since training with Roach, Khan’s resistance has been improved, and to a greater extent, so has his defence. This was evident against Barrera and Kotelnik, who both hit him with good clean shots on occasion, but Khan managed to shrug them off and go on to win and while they did both manage to hit him cleanly, the instances were not often enough to cause worry. Maidana’s power is greater than the past his prime Barrera and certainly Kotelnik’s however, I firmly believe Khan’s defence has improved such that Maidana’s limited attack won’t be able to break him down and Khan’s lightning foot speed will likely mean Maidana will find it very difficult to land anything but glancing blows for the most part. Though as I said before, if he lands with a shot like the one he caught Ortiz with, it is lights out Amir Khan for sure.
Personally, I am relishing the prospect of this bout and can not wait until it is set in stone and upon us because regardless of if I have called it right or wrong here, it promises fireworks, drama, knock downs, explosive action and most likely, in my opinion, a middle rounds knock-out win for Amir Khan.
I don’t have a favourite of the two so whoever wins will be fine by me, though from here on in, things only get more difficult for both these fighters. The light-welterweight division, along with the light-heavyweights will probably be the most exciting division in the coming decade with so much talent having just risen to the top, or about to break through to greatness. You have both Khan and Maidana, then you have the likes of Timothy Bradley who still has many years ahead of him and hasn’t quite been given the legacy-building fights he is so desperate for yet, though they are just around the corner. Then there is unbeaten American youngster Devon Alexander who is destined for greatness, Lamont Peterson, Victor Cayo, Paul McCloskey, Juan Urango, Paulie Malignaggi, Mike Alvarado another unbeaten American, are all going to be around for many years to come and hold so much promise. Then you have the older heads like Casamayor, Holt, Diaz, and Hatton have something to offer in the first part of the coming decade. These are just the natural light-welterweights too, without the crossover fighters like Marquez from the lightweight and welterweight divisions! There are just too many overwhelmingly exciting prospective battles in that list that I can’t even begin to articulate my expectations.
Tags: 60 Responses to “Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana: analysis”
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what channel is this fight goingto be on?
Amir Khan will WIN because He has grown into a New Fighter and better TOOLS. Marcos has Power but Khan can take them and will hit him back!!! Speed KIls.
AMIR KHAN SHOULD HAVE AN EASY NIGHT WITH THE ARGENTINIAN
KHAN BY TKO
KHAN IS GONNA JAB MAIDANAS HEAD OFF
U WATCH
Hey mohamed how many times have you jumped in the ring? Amir khan has a glass jaw that’s why he runs and fights on the counter behind a tight guard. Barrera couldn’t break an egg at lightweight yet nearly put khan to bed. Take your blinkers off, learn about boxing, jump in the ring with any club fighter, feel the heat then multiply that by 10 that would be close to what it would feel like getting whacked by Maidana. FUERZA CHINO QUE JESUS TE BENDIGA. VAMOS ARGENTINA!
Maidana is a powerful puncher but it is going to be very hard for him to catch Khan in the ring because of Khan’s speed/quick moves; this is the only element which will make Maidana frustrated; the frustration will compel Maidana to go most of the time after khan and Maidana will through quicker punches in the early 6 rounds which will turn Maidana exausted and Khan will take advantage of the over all situation. It should also be noted that Khan defence has been improved since he lost to Prescot. One another point to remember, Khan beat Kotelnik while Kotelnik beat Maidana recently; this will also make Khan’s moral high on 12/11/2010. Anyway this will be the year’s 2010 best fight.
salita was khans manditory, after that he fought malignagi. once he knocked out salita maidana became the manditory.
now, all the people that accuse khan of dodging maidana have a look back at all the other champs and tell me when the lastime anyone of them had 2 manditories forced on them back to back.
well?
it dosnt happen most fighters have to face a manditory every 3 or 4 fights. not back to back so let the kid get his money fights too, he knows that he will have to face maidana and mark my words when he does, which will be sooner rather than later, he will destroy him.
great comment by speedo. So maidana is bad because of marketing? ok then go watch wrestling or go to the circus, maidana have a great record and thats a fact, he ruined ortiz future? no way!!!. ortiz ruined his own future with the “no mas” thing. People like you who think a fighter is first a merchandise and later an athlete make me sick. But de la hoya and all the promoters are that way (and thats why the sport is being kill)
Food for thought – Khan showed newfound power in dropping Salita with his first two shots – something Roach said they had been working on. Roach also suggested that Khan could fight as high up as 160. I put it to you guys, how successful would Khan be at Middleweight and do you think his chin has improved from not draining down to lightweight?
Quality analysis mate, definitely agree that whilst Maidana is a monster puncher, his boxing skills need honing. Ortiz in my opinion only lost because he went toe to toe with Maidana, the general consensus appears to be that Ortiz could have outboxed him. Khan will probably win if he sticks to the game plan – something I can see apeparing a lot on previous posts! Just shows you what Roach has done with Khan. The game plan would obviously utilise Khan’s speed (as always) and involve moving in and out of range.
Inde1000, did you use ‘google translate’ for this because I can’t make heads or tails of it.
Maidana – Khan… hope to see it, Floyd won’t face the winner because Maidana hits to hard for him.
La mayoría que escriben en esta página no sabe nada de
Boxeo, van a ver a Khan en la 1º o 2º Ronda caer, ante el
poder de la mano del Chino.
Maidana esta para cosas grandes, y ustedes operan igual
que la mafia del boxeo, cuando sale un Grande del Boxeo
como Maidana lo quieren tirar a un costado, de mientras
que el otro rival pelea con Boxeadores de Papeles.
Most who write on this page knows nothing about
Boxing, will see Khan in the 1st or 2nd round fall, before the
power from the hand of Chinese.
Maidana this for great things, and you operate like
the mob of boxing, miss a boxing greats
as Maidana they want to pull to one side, the while
the other boxers fight with rival papers.
Khan will ko maidana in the later rounds….. Khan should fight mayweahter after… Its less risky then fighting bradley who i think would be hes most dangerous fight after pacman…. It will be a big payday 4 him… And mayweather should take the fight, he would love to beat a roach fighter right now and that would be hes dowfall… Mayweathers style is made 4 khan…khan to win ud
I think its impossible to predict this fight. I could see Khan winning this easy, or losing it easy.
The only way Khan would beat Marcos is avoiding him 12 rounds.
First strong hand and that cristal chin goes down.
i know i may get accused of some kind of bigotry i truly am sorry for upsetting anyone with my personal opinion but, as gifted as amir is he won’t acheive the elite status of pbf,pac-man,mosley or the like.
i agree with most people that maidana is not the best boxer out there but he is the best fighter and the strongest puncher in the light welterweight division and maybe welter also and for that khan can out box him all night but as soonest he lands a right hook khan will get knock out easily specially with his chin
Khan has to take thi fight…. If he doesnt take the fight the critis will never 4give him.. I 4 1 think khan will easily school him jus like kotelnik.. And will knock him out in the later rounds.. I think khans improved fighter with roach at hes corner and the way roach has transformed him.. Hes added more weight to hes legs and hes neck.. And whoever thinks hes got a glass chin think again cos he got caught with clean shots from barera and kotelnik and never seemed in trouble…madainas shots are a different story no matter who you are if the land clean they will spark you out.. Madaina only sterted catchin kotelnik in the later rounds when he was tired and didnt have much venom left in the shots.. So all khan has 2 do is be defensive in the early rounds and take him out in the later rounds
oh my god! what i read in here, maidana is a puncher, every fight is different, ortiz is puncher like maidana but with more movement, kotelnik’s fight were too different of ortiz vs maidana, khan will try to do the same of kotelnik but khan does’nt have the chin of kotelnik, and i believe maidana have a good chin and i think khan will run all over the ring trying to outbox maidana but the first punch of maidana will say everything.
ortiz vs maidana was stopped because caiz sr decide to take ortiz the see the doctor but ortiz pulled “no mas”, and maidana trainer/cutman is Miguel Diaz that was best trainer of the year, and worked with more than 30 world champions, so ithink he don’t need a better trainer, go ask freddy roach about miguel diaz, miguel diaz was freddy roach trainer and he learn a lot things from diaz,
maidana first fight with diaz was against ortiz, i believe he will learn a lot of boxing with diaz,
just to inform you!
babes
For once an excellent article, I agree exactly with the writer. Kahn will win this fight if he sticks to his gameplan and uses his footwork speed and hand speed. This is the start of great things to come for Kahn, he can beat Maidana, then Bradley and become undisputed champion of the light- welterweight division. Conquer the US and move up a weight. A few more top class fightd for Kahn with wins and I feel Kahns critics of his chin can be put to bed, greatly so if he avenges the defeat by Prescott, if Prescott gets back into contention….
this fight should be held as a second main event for the pacman vs clottley card.
i think its a great fight, and alot of hype. both excellent fighters.
khan wins by split decision.
maidana is tough SOB !!
Great article – one of the best i’ve read since using the site. Completely agree – style usually wins over power but there’s always that chance a bomb will get through. Lets hope Amir keeps his cool and dismantles Maidana before taking him out in the mid rounds like you say.
For once a fair and balanced article on this site good job writer.. I have to agree with the writer if Amir Khan can stick to boxing he should be able to win. However if Maidana can connect once then no1 at 140 will be left standing that’s what makes Maidana sooo dangerous…
As always, I’m gonna go for the boxer (Khan) over the brawler (Maidana).
finally, some1 that knows his stuff! if khans fights smart(which he will) maidana will not even get close! dont think he ull knock him out tho, hea a tough SOB that maidana!
good article +1
SEBASTIAN, YOU SAD GIT FOR POSTING YOUR COMMENT
IF you see khans recent fights he has adopted pacmans in/out bxer style. I think khan is going to be way to fast for marcos maidaina and more importantly will not go into a slugfest with this guy
this article and everybody sad enough to post up comments makes my bulb end really itchy. and truth be told khan will beat maidana, too strong, too fast and now too skilled. also watch out floyd, khan will come for you in about 2 years time and will beat you up.
good luck amir
Wow, Jakanory seems to know an awful lot doesnt he?, hed get us all hung drawn a quartered with such gammoned outlets. If i istiaq, i could be jakonory, there fore im arguing with myself.
The prove in the “chin”, that grass chin that an opponent knows Khan has, gives hope even to a club fighter. Maidana just need to land one good right hands and all of Khan plans go out the window. even if Khan survives the first right hand Maidana lands, than Khan will run all night and paddy pad all night. Unless Roach get in there and fight for Khan.
istiaq you make me laugh making out ur a boxing expert lol. Kahn beats pac are you for real!!! Listen people this joker just writes stupid posts to wind people up then pretends to be shakeeb the followin sheep who cant string a sentence together ha ha ha this moron also thinks matthew hatton would ko floyd . Get a grip lad !!!
dont know about that dan….khan go’na be really cautious early on but could nail him in the later rounds..i’m just happy the fight looks like its goin ahead
maidana is a poor boxer .. just a slugger hes well out of his depth in this fight the fight will be stoped early within 3
khans gotta take this fight just to prove alot of people wrong…as a champion its u’r duty to defend whats yours against whoevers put in front of you…aint that what boxings all about….khans more than capable of dealing with maidana….
SO MR WALKER,YOU THINK CUS KHAN HOLDS HIS OWN WITH MANNY PAC IN SPARRING, KHAN HIS READY TO FIGHT HIM.SO WHY DID,NT THEY OFFER MAYWEATHER,KHAN, WEN MANNY FIGHT FELL THRU.MURRAY USE TO SPAR HATTON AND HOLD HIS OWN.BUT IT WUD OF BEEN A DIFFERENT STORY WEN FIGHTING FOR REAL.
SPARRING IS NOT FOR REAL IS ABOUT LEARNING..FACT
Khan wins by UD
good article, fair and to the point
Yes mr alan but you stated that sparring meant nothing. When fighters get the better in sparring, he will get the better in fight night. Fact.
MR WALKER,IVE SEEN FIGHTERS GET THE BETTER IN SPARRING FROM OTHER GYMS.BUT WHEN THEY HAVE MET FOR REAL IT IS A DIFFERENT STORY.
Mr alan, Sparring dont mean nothing???! your on the wrong forum mr alan. this is boxing, a sport in which you seem to know nothing about. You have just proved that.
ISTIAQ,SPARRING DONT MEAN NOTHING ITS ABOUT LEARNING DIFFERENT MOVES TRYING OTHER THINGS YOU TAKE IT EASY YOU DONT SPARR 12 RDS RELENTLESS ECT ECT,MANNY WOULD KO KHAN IF IT WAS FOR REAL…
ISTIAQ MOHAMMED – I wonder if you managed to keep a straight face as you typed that. I really hope you weren’t serious.
Just so you know, Maidana is the mandatory challenger for the title.
Personally, I think this will be an interesting fight and could go either way. Unlike the Salita fight, we’ll be able to see more of what Khan has to offer. Here’s hoping his chin holds up.
Istiaq what are u talking about!? I agree that khan is underrated but how can you seriously say that khan will Be just to good for him. That’s ridiculous. Not even khan says that
Khan is in a great position.
Everybody underestimates his chin and his skills.
Just because he got knocked down a few times early in his career, then got laid out cold by a massive massive shot from presscot… does not mean he has no punch resistence. He does… everyone can get knocked out and down, khan got up after every knock down (except prescott) and convincingly won the fights.
Most of the top fighters in the sport have been knocked out or at least knocked down at some point. But nobody calls them chinny.
Pacman has been knocked out before, nobody calls him chinny.
The other thing khan has in his favor is his youth. Hes 22, loads of money, a great promoter, a great trainer… A world champion… he has the sport at his feet and hes still atleast 3 or 4 years from reaching his peak.
Sure more losses might come before he reaches his peak, but hes going to be a force to be rekkoned with for at least the next 5 or 6 years. If not more….
you’re all underestimating maidana who beat kotlenik by the way. he adjusts very well to his opponents style, breaks them down as his shots get harder and harder until he ko’s them with devistating one punch power. do you really think that maidana hasnt got the experience to break through khans pathetic defence. maidana will be the most dangerouse and the best opponent khan has faced yet, forget barrera, he couldnt break an egg at lightweight and yet khan had to hold on afew times when barrera caught him. if you watch the fight closely his legs went wobbly a couple of times.
maidana hasnt lost a fight yet and has ko’d 26 out of 28. and about ten of these are ko’s where the guys never got back off the floor. with one punch, he puts his opponents lights out for the night, he doesnt give up, he keeps on coming all night until he has won and refuses to lose. if ortiz couldnt knock him out then khan certainly cant.
pitter patter combos and scoring points works well with a fighter like kotelnik but khan is going to get knocked out badly agian in this fight, maidana is way too strong for him.
Maidana is a slugger and a brawler with freak power, NOT A BOXER….. he is detrimental to the sport, ruined the career of Ortiz a rising start and hope for the future….
Maidana BRINGS NOTHING TO THE TABLE, crap fan base, crap PPV appeal, crap boxong ability, absolutly no chrisma, no personality, cannot speak a word of english, looks like a joke…. you can hardly call him the next Golden Boy
Khan should fight Marquez, in USA, it would be an all out war!
Great article! I was starting to think khan had no fans on this site. I completely agree. Maidana will come in expecting a k.o but I believe khan will easily deal with a slow boxer liked maidana. I also have a feeling that now khans gone up in weight his punch resistance will also improve. I don’t expect he’d be able to take maidanas bombs, I don’t think neone in the LW division could but I think he’ll easily outbox him. Then I think khan should fight another big puncher, maybe ortiz, who he should beat, to prove he can take on the big punchers. Then at the end of the year come back to britain for a mega fight with ricky hatton. Which he should also win. After that and into 2011 it’s be good to see khan try and unify the division. With his foot and hand speed and freddie roach in his corner I can see khan becoming a force in and around the LW in the coming years
ISTIAG,you walk b4 you run in boxing MAIDANA is the next level for khan.if you was khans manager and you watched him get ko,d by presscott would you throw him in with mannypac now.i dont think so,another ko loss like presscott khan may nether recover mentally.maidana is a good fight for khan to show is skills and speed
Good article i see khan winning maidana just needs to be carefull in the first round not to get caught cold.Khan is going to stop maidana i cant see this fight going to the judges.
Very Good Article.
I was hoping, and I am still hoping Khan takes this bout. Khan needs to be facing these hungry, upcoming boxers for him to progress onto the next level, and also to see were he sits at world level.
the trouble with maidana is,he no,s khan is fragile around the chin. and being a puncher maidana will think he can ko khan.that will be is undoing,khan as a great defence great boxing skills the fastest 140lb fighter out there.so while maidana is trying to hard to ko khan.khan will be winning the rounds and will slowly beat maidana up for a late stoppage or ud.
one of the few posts that are not biased on here, well done u have got it spot on brilliant article
forgot to mention Victor Ortiz in the last bit, he looks a seriously good prospect. i believe he was espn tip of the year last year though don’t quote me on that as i haven’t checked. obviously losing to maidana set him back, but he looks good enough to win world titles to me. thats some serious power he’s packing.
Amir will win eather decision or knockout..maidana has good punching power but no defence…amir just have to out box him.. ortiz had him but he couldn’t out box him ..instead He stand front him and exchange you fool.. chakde maidana nu amir
Maidana is a solid and dangerous puncher but, as was the case in the Kotelnik fight, he will be exposed against Khan. He lacks the technical ability to compete with a sound boxer of that caliber. Especially as Khan also posseses the speed and power to take advantage of Maidanna’s loose guard, poor ring generalship and tendency to walk straight onto his opponent’s shots on his way inside. This is something that Khan’s impressive handspeed and awsome footwork will brutally make the most of this emphasing the gap in class between champ and challenger which will be clear for all to see.
Next stop Hatton, Marquez or Bradley ?
Daniel very good write on these two fighters and also good observations on a fighter they have fought and I think you have hit pretty close to home on what is going to happen, the only way Maidana has a chance is a punchers chance unless he has changed his style and they would only happen with a new trainer,