Khan-Maidana: Will Amir’s chin hold together against Marcos?
January 12th, 2010
By William Mackay: Unless I hear otherwise, I’m assuming that World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan will be defending his title next against WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana. Khan, 23, had done a great job of turning his career around since being blasted out in one round by Breidis Prescott in 2008. Khan has picked up a new trainer with Freddie Roach, changed his fighting style, selected the perfect opponents to fight, and made a lot of boxing fans believe in him again. The real test now is whether Khan’s chin can hold up under the bombardment from Maidana’s huge shots in the their fight.
Khan hasn’t faced a puncher like Maidana before during his career. Prescott had good power, but he doesn’t have the same kind of huge power that Maidana has with every punch. If you’d have matched lightweight Kevin Mitchell against a brutal slugger like Maidana, I have little doubts that Maidana would steamroll over Mitchell in no time, even if Mitchell chose to run all night long.
You could say that Khan isn’t the same fighter he was when he fought Prescott, and that would be true. Khan looks totally different compared to then. He mixes it up much less than he did then, and puts more emphasis on using his jab and moving to stay away from trouble. Losing his ’0′ was actually a good thing for Khan, because it made him realize that he can’t go out slugging with all of his opponents and has to focus more on his defense.
On paper, Maidana would seem to be tailor made for Khan. Maidana has little hand speed and is somewhat wild with his shots. Maidana doesn’t move well, and has short arms. He punches like an ox, but he can be out-maneuvered by his opponents. Andriy Kotelnik did a great job of neutralizing Maidana’s power in their fight in February 2009. Although I think Maidana was the recipient of a bad decision and should have won the fight in my view, Kotelnik was able to keep Maidana safely on the outside for most of the fight.
Khan will have to do this otherwise Maidana will knock him out. Khan can’t beat Maidana by standing in front of him and trying to trade. Maidana would catch with one of his shots and spark him out. However, if Khan can use lateral movements and focus on landing one shot at a time, he can probably beat Maidana.
I say probably because Maidana has the kind of power that can end a fight at any time in the fight. Khan is a fighter that doesn’t have the best of chins, and because of that he will be in constant danger against Maidana. Khan took more punches than was necessary in his fight against Kotelnik. It looked as if Khan got tired after moving a lot in the fight and tried to punch with Kotelnik at times. If Khan does this against Maidana, I see the fight ending quickly. Roach needs to have Khan working hard on a large sprinting track during training and focus on building up his running skills, because if Maidana catches him with a shot, Khan can say goodbye to his WBA title.
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maidana by KO round 1 like the prescott fight
why has everyone got there knickers in a twist this fight aint gonna happen just yet so all u wanna be boxing experts can chilllll
khan as to be the most overrated boxing like naz. hes fightin numptys or is it just me who thinks that.
I doubt Salita thinks Khan doesn’t have power.
And most of Khans fights have been when he was a teenager.
Alan, if Khan losing means people will look stupid, I guess you’ll look extraodinarily stupid if he wins.
khan:
#1 Killer Instinct 5/10
#2 Reflexes 7/10
#3 speed 9/10
#4 Stamina 9/10
#5 Power 6/10
#6 Heart 5/10
#7 Chin 1/10
maidana:
#1 Killer Instinct 10/10
#2 Reflexes 9/10
#3 speed 8/10
#4 Stamina 8/10
#5 Power 10/10
#6 Heart 10/10
#7 Chin 9/10
ok first the people that think maidana lost against kote… watch the fight before talking 2 for the ignorant ones that say maidana doesn’t have a chin because he got knock out 3 times with ortiz which he isn’t over hyped like khan his one of the best and is one of the hardest puncher in the division if khan got hit by those punches he would of being knocked out easily. i agree maidana is not the best boxer but his a fighter and as soon as khan takes a good right hand he will be knock out. most of the fighters that fought khan agree he has almost no power in his punches.
I have to laugh – suddenly Maidana’s hailed as the hardest puncher in the division because he’s beaten Victor Ortiz who himself hasn’t beaten anyone of any great significance. He didn’t even knock Ortiz spark out despite connecting with a number of hard looking shots. Exactly how does that earn anyone the reputation he’s got. Ortiz was clearly overrated much the same as Khan was before the Prescott fight. However, its an easy, perfect tailor made fight for Khan – Maidana’s slow and isn’t that great technically. Khan’s beginning to look like the real deal under Roach. Of course they’re bigging Maidana up – it’ll improve Khans reputation when he beats him and earn more money for the fight. Lets get things back in perspective regarding Maidana please.
khan has great speed but has not really proved himself against the best, i guess we will see how good he is. hope he wins
Kahn has indeed improved a lot since his knock-out loss to Prescott. However, he has yet to prove himself against someone decent. If Khan beats Maidana, he will have my respect.
Personally, I thought Ortiz was doing great against Maidana. Fortunately for Maidana, he caught Ortiz with a flush left that opened him up and finished the fight.
I don’t see Khan being able to take the punishment that Ortiz took but maybe he won’t have to if he fights the right fight. I’m sure Roach will see that he does.
shakeep mentions gammon in nearly every arguement – he must eat loads of it to be on his mind that much! What a king pig is the best
MATTY,ive mentioned that further down.but there is guys on here who reckon graham is not in khans league.but if khan loses they will look stupid.
Khan has improved a lot since his KO loss to Prescott. You can only look at how far Khan has elevated to & where Prescott has landed! Madiana is a really good opponent and should be a good test to Khan. Khan with his speed + power + movements & Roaches expertise will be victorious. Taking nothing away from Madiana’s style yes he bangs and that’s all you have – Other then Khan’s Chinny Chin – what do we have on him? Nothing! The dudes a Champ so give credit where its due!
MAIDANA W KO 5, KHANS CHIN WONT HOLD, IT MIGHT BE HIS LAST FIGHT.
hey guys go on youtube and watch herol graham v julian jackson, graham was putting a boxing clinic on jackson wen jackson came out of nowhere and caught him cold… khan shud be wary of tht even if he is beating up maidana he should be cautious as one hard shot could end it all
Speed kills!
shakeeb,if khans dont win this one paced brawler.khan 16 20 23 or 28 what ever.khan will prove he his only domestic level.fact
Alan Bosworth, You should retire from this forum. Khan 23years old. Should Maidana pull of the biggest shock in boxing history, why should khan retire, you make a mistake at would, does that mean you should retire, get a grip alan and post something that hold some water.
Maidana is surely dangerous
there will be some sad idiots here if khan dont live up to the exspectations of him. if khan dont fight maidana, the club brawler and vacates, then khan should retire.if khan fights maidana the club brawler and struggles to md pts.khan should retire.if maidana wins khan, in anyway pts ko rsc.khan his truely finished.no pressure on him then you lot.
ortiz kinda in a hurry to end the fight against maidana. ortiz is leading what is he thinking? well that gave oppurtunity for maidana to win by tko. khan is not ortiz. amir will easily beat maidana.
Benjamin you obviously are a casual boxin fan? You dont seem to know much in terms of looking at the tree and waiting for the dryer to come on, it never will, and as we say down the boxing gym ‘mother get the hammer, theres a fly on babies head’. Khan will wash maidana down with good combinations, you cant compair maidana to some sort of potatoe thats grows in the allotments, to which you state, far from it Benjamin. Looking at the glass half full is one thing, looking at it half empty is another, but benjamin you seem to see the glass starked naked empty.
i for one shall be looking forward to this fight and hope it happens, if khan was to win this fight i shall look upon him with more respect, i do feel however the odds are against him, in his fight with ortiz maidana was dropped a few times but got back up and carried on throwing big rights, i dnt think khan has faced anyone so far with that kind or durabilty and power
fair article but i wudnt go as far to say he wud knock amir spark out , did he knock ortiz to canvas, yes, did he knock ortiz spark out, no he didnt
vinboy- boxing isnt about throwing gammon like shots in an open field, maidana CAN box which you cleary stated in freezer terms that he cant, YOu should find a spanner and start tightening some of those screws you have loose.
Jorge Formeto
Creo que Kan ganará Madaina, Usted es bebido para pensar que Maidana ganará.
Leandro Caffarena- arnt you silly to suggest khan outbox him? I mean, we are talking about boxing, so that would be obvious wouldnt it? to out box your opponant? Unless boxing to you is two pub men arguing over who has the biggest house and throwing unwanted xmas presants at each other
shakeeb…khan is not that good a boxer that he can avoid maidana for 12 rounds. he is going down. and his chin is awful that’s a well known fact.
Nosense Shakib. You know what I mean. The only chance Khan has against Marcos is to outbox him for 12 rounds. Is not impossible, Kotelnik almost do that (he finished the fight with a head like a watermelon but he did it). But Khan chin is much worst that Kotelnik.
Mariano Ortiba-
Say this out aloud.
Breidis precott. defeated in last two fights.
Amir Khan. World Champion.
Clearly Prescott beating khans done him nothing.
Clearly khan losing, made him a better boxer.
I rest my case
Leandro cafferena, you right about khan ‘crystal chin’ not being able to withstand two rounds, beings though crystal is one of the hardest compounds known to man, a crystal chin would last 12 rounds, thanks for pointing that out.
Angel, your thoughts are about as real as an overweight overloaded human species ordering carrot sticks and milk instead of the whopper burger and fries. Im sure you would be ‘wobbled’ a couple times in a fight. an inexperianced khan got caught flush ‘ONCE’ in the prescott fight and didnt recover. He got up too quick as hed never been in that position before. and he was still shaken which is why the other shots of prescott nailed him. If you took a shot like khan did, you try gettung back up as quick as he did and see how well you take another shot. Now if that happened he would take a knee, ‘recoup the armour’ and not rush into bullring outlets.
His chin definately wont hold up but his boxing might.
Cristal chin Khan cannot stand two rounds with Marcos. If you have any doubt, you can see Ortiz face on the 6th asking for “no more pain”.
is Dan Brown serious!?!?
26 of maidanas 28 fights have ended in knockouts. he doesnt even have to hit hard to knock a man down. he has immense power. maidana does have good speed, he’s clever and very good at catching his victims out and adjusting to their style.
khans face was marked up after barrera and kotelnik, he was wobbled by both barrera and kotlenik since his chin is supposed to have improved. this is the moment of truth when he takes on maidana and im afraid khans chin will get badly exposed again.
Even though sir paul mcartney said it, Strawberry fields in fact dont last forever. So with ortiz crashing. Its a weight of lead pushing on his back to do well.
@neil
well, a little over the top, more of a back-roll wasnt it haha
interesting observation about ortiz though. genuine question, why do people think he was “exposed”? is it because he is signed to golden boy and therefore is a “sell out” bla bla bla? don’t forget, he is only 22 and really does have excellent power in both hands, he just got carried away against maidana and lets be fair, anyone, young or old, big or small that big shot at the end of the 5th landed on was going down. at the moment im very out of shape weighing around 190lbs and im confident it would have put me on my back.
Istiaq- Your personal digs in gammon should be kept to mariano, not his family. And Mariano when a boxer kisses the floor in our Mosque it means winner, So khan would win if he kissed the Ring floor. Fact
@ shakeeb
No problem i wouldnt expect anything less.If we all agreed on everything in boxing there would be no debate.I wasnt disrespecting khan i just dont want him to get caught cold like the prescott fight.I think he has much improved his skills since then with freddie roach but when all is said in boxing anything can happen.
AMIR kahn sticks to the game plan he will beat maidana with a ud or late stoppage he is more than capable good luck amir its your time to shine.
@neil
he may have recovered from them quickly, but he is easy to hit and easy to knock down. he is tough, thats for sure. but one of them punches from ortiz damn near made him do a backflip
The names Shakeeb, Shakeeb Nawaz and although many people have difficulty in understanding me, I live by my opinions like grass on a buckled wheel. Del boy, I will call truce to our differances in gammoned outlets, but should you in any way bring an opinion to this forum that i disagree with its war!
@ shakeeb can you only try and insult me by sayin the same thing over and over again about pub fights etc. I think amir will win maidana whats your problem you think the same dont you??.The reason why i said 99 percent of the time boxer (AMIR)Beats brawler(maidana) is because maidana hits hard meaning he has a punchers chance and if he lands clean he may ko kahn.
Another example is carl froch (brawler) in my opinion he wins fights by determination, power, and a granite chin not by great boxing ability.
Shakeeb we may not agree on everything in boxing but i suggest we start a fresh and let our past debates arguments go what do u say ??
I heard somone saying that you can’t build muscle on the chin. That means nothing.. all you need to do is change your style, put weight on your legs and upper body. If you look at Khan’s first loss, Khan was carrying alot of weight on the upper body and very little on his legs. Since training with Freddie and Arum he has gained alot of speed and more power not just on his right hand but left too. i can confidently say that Khan will beat Maidana, it would be KO in mid rounds or a points victory. Looking and studying at Maidanna’s previous fights i dont think he has anything there, he has been beaten by Kotelnik and he can be beaten again. He doesnt have the same trainer or class and would inevitably be taking some punches from Khan. He can mix it using body punches as well as speed, duck and weave and hit. Maidanna will be shocked! The simplest was of putting this fight is Speed & Power Vs Power.
I would like to say that this is a fair article and I respect that
Im sorry but Herol Graham was overated in terms of framed flaws. All this came out in the open when he lost to Sumbu in 87, which gave the bristish public something i already knew, he was no good. Some one with gammoned losses adding up to 6 says it all really.
For all maidana’s power, he’s not very accurate, he seem’s to gas himself out on a per-round basis, and he also has a slightly dodgy chin.
I actually think this is one of them fights Khan cannot win, if he beats Maidana, everyone will say Maidana was over-hyped, and if he loses, everyone will say ‘i told you so’.
Khan should be able to outbox Maidana with no real problems, he could potentially even stop him as his power is starting to grow as he settles into the weight more.
Maidana has a punchers chance, no more.
shakeeb,you seem to think you no it all.bomber graham was one of the best british fighters never to win a world title.graham was miles ahead with julian jackson at world level with his boxing skills, but bang jackson nailed him flush and it was over.thats all del boy is saying.i to think khan will win nearly every round for a late stoppage win.but roach and khan will be working on defence and speed to pull this of.
Del boy, do you know anything about boxing? Clearly not. Boxing isn’t about two pub users fighting over a pint that was knocked over accidently and then deciding to throw tyres at each other. A boxer allways beats a brawler something in which you clearly have trouble in believing. Khan will take this maidana to school.
who was down 3 times in their last but one fight?
maidana. he has a crap chin too. and khan can bang when needed.
if khan can keep to a gameplan he will box maidana to an early bath.
if maidana lands clean its goodnight.
mr mackay,good article.anyone who maidana hits flush at 140lb could be out.julian jackson v bomber graham this reminds me of,but graham boxed with his hands low.khan since with roach as excellent defence,and while maidana will be all out to k,o khan.that will be his undoing,khan will be slowly beaten maidana up winning most of the rounds with his high guard and super speed until maidana his stopped on is feet late on.
amir will have to be careful in the first couple of rounds and get maidanas timing and avoid bombs.Amir in my opinion is the superior boxer and 99 percent of the time boxer beats brawler if he keeps his head together i see him stopping maidana late on or takes a ud.
If this was a game of darts it would end in tears. If it was a game of drafts, neither would purse the strings. If they were playing cops and robbers, khan would be the robber and maidana would be the cop, who wants to be the cop? no one. But this is boxing, and alot of you would do well to remember that.
Amir has aprove with the help of roach..he learns from his mistakes fast…I think he’ll be ready to 2 kick maidana or who ever he fight
.
Maidana is pretty sloppy but he does have some power in those punches. Khan under the tutelage of Roach will be prepared though.
this fight should be on HBO BOXING …
MAIDANA CAN PULL THIS ONE OFF.
I SEE KHAN WINNING BY DECISION.
KHAN HAS A BIG NAME ON HIM ALREADY, AND PEOPLE WANT TO SEE HIM FIGHTING BIG NAMES.