By Eric Thomas: According to the Daily Star, World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) will be vacating his WBA crown, and fighting former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) on May 1st at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Khan was supposed to be facing WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana in the next few months. This would be bad news for fans that were hoping to see Khan face Maidana.

For those fans who are critical of Khan, this will be more ammunition for them to use against him. Some fans feel that Khan has been ducking the bigger punchers since being knocked out in the 1st round by Breidis Prescott in late 2008. By opting to take the light hitting Malignaggi, this would give some people the impression that Khan is choosing the easier path.

However, it’s a smart move for Khan if he does in fact vacate his WBA title. The Maidana fight is a dangerous one and it’s a fight that will likely only impress hardcore fans who know how powerful Maidana is.

A fight against the better known Malignaggi would be a better option if Khan wants to get attention of the U.S. audiences, because Malignaggi is well liked by a segment of the American boxing fans because of his high speed talking and his Mayweatheresque style of fighting.

Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach hasn’t been pleased with the thoughts of Khan facing the hard hitting Maidana, so this should make him happy. Malignaggi has very little power and would also zero chance of stopping Khan unless Amir’s chin is worse than people think it is. At the same time, this is a great opportunity for Khan to shine by dominating the feather fisted Malignaggi. Khan would have been in deep had he fought Maidana, who would have been only one punch away from taking Khan out at any time in the fight.