Amir Khan: Will Golden Boy Promotions make a huge star out of him?
February 23rd, 2010
By Sean McDaniel: World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) signed a short term contract recently with Golden Boy Promotions in hopes that the American promotional company could make him a big star in the United States. Khan signed up American trainer Freddie Roach, famous for training huge mega star Manny Pacquiao and developing his talent. Khan comes over from Britain having achieved success by skillfully being positioned against a mix of mostly light punchers.
Now that Khan has the WBA title in his possession, Golden Boy Promotions want to build up his name by positioning him against fighters with somewhat of a name in the U.S. Khan’s first bout will be against the weak puncher Paulie Malignaggi on May 15th. Malignaggi is well known to hardcore boxing fans, but virtually completely unknown among casual boxing fans.
Malignaggi is popular to a certain degree on the East Coast, but I wouldn’t say really popular because he’s had mix success in the past two years, losing two out of his last four fights. Golden Boy have decided to bypass for now a fight between Khan and WBA light welterweight interim champion Marco Maidana, a huge puncher that would be a potential headache for Khan.
The word is that Maidana, not Khan, needs to get better known by U.S. boxing fans before he can face Khan. Ok, I’ll by that. Few boxing fans in the United States have any idea who Maidana, but by the same token, even fewer casual fans know who Khan is. At least Maidana has fought on HBO before. Khan hasn’t. But under the best circumstances, Khan beats Malignaggi by an impressive knockout.
But given that this fight won’t likely be a war, I don’t see Khan becoming a huge star from a win over Malignaggi. It’s going to take more than that to do, a lot more. Khan said recently on his Twitter page that he’ll be facing WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in 2010. I’d like to see that fight, and if Khan could win it without running all night long like I think he’d do, it would really help make a star out of him.
But I don’t believe that Golden Boy will throw Khan in with Bradley. That would be an almost certain loss for Khan. Bradley is good fighter on many different levels. He does everything good, and he also has experience going for him. My guess is Khan won’t be put in with a fighter like Bradley. If they wanted to take a smaller risk, they might put Khan in with WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander, but I doubt that will happen either.
Alexander is probably too dangerous for them to want to risk for a fight against Khan. I’m thinking they might shoot for a fight against Juan Urango next, even if he loses to Alexander next. Urango is terribly slow and a plodder. Khan could probably easily have his way with him. For his third fight in the U.S., I think they might put Khan in with light welterweight contender Victor Cayo, a light puncher but a slick fighter.
If Cayo beats Maidana, it will take care of Khan’s problem of having to face Maidana. He then could fight Cayo without having to worry about being taken out. Cayo is slick, has good hand speed but isn’t the kind of puncher that would worry a fighter like Khan. At the same time, his hand speed isn’t as good as Khan’s.
Tags: 43 Responses to “Amir Khan: Will Golden Boy Promotions make a huge star out of him?”
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Unique
There is nothing unique about you, jsut another talentless council estate no hoper
Are those his real ears in the photograph, he looks like a taxi cab going down the road with both doors open
UNIQUE,It should have read “from one of the run down Asian ghetto’s” And talking of school Unique its didn’t and don’t not dont and didnt!! see i was rushing you thick c*nt what’s your excuse? and you haven got the skills to get near a nerve of mine,it will be a big up set for you Kon groupies when Amir Kon gets beaten by Paulie,because if Limond and Gomez can deck him and he’s also been down as a armature plus the funky chicken dance when prescott crack him!! its only a question of time before he found out again.
anon prescott your second line dont make sense, guess you didnt go school much, i must of touched a nerve. so cos i support amir khan i must be asian lol, shows the haters, jam agree khan needs to knock out paulie to shine on his debut.
@andy
that is why Khan will KO malinaggi cuz nobody else managed to do it…. It will be khan making a statement, so I hope he gets a little respect for doing it… And I don’t think Kham has to hot harder te cotto, just land more effective combos and I think with khan’s speed he will catch malinaggi too many times for the magic man to last and he will feel the canvass….
Bring on may 15 baby….
unique,sounds like a taxi driver with 10 k!ds on benefits from on the run down as!an ghetto’s.
Anonymous sounds like a typical pop belly from a run down ex council estate, Amir is still young and has plenty of time to prove him self……..good fight for a debut……
AS much as i liek Khan, he needs to fight a top, top name very soon. But i think he’ll do Mallignaggi with ease.
It’s funny how when you give these hater a taste of their own medicene you aee the true colours commong out… Comments like get out or ef of then, well, Asians have out themselves in a position to move into affluent parts of the country and the world, yet start of on the same place as working class White folks, why is that huh…. And no I am not painting all English folks with the same brush, I work with many White middle class folks and even hang out with them, because they are enlightened and won’t judge you based on where u come from….
And, Asians don’t just support khan, me and my friends support Hatton, Mitchell, as well as others! Khan is a British Asian and we have a special connection with him so what!
Anyway as someone pointed out this is a boxing site so let’s keep to it….. Khan to KO malinaggi in late round
dani you twit, stop wasting time you have to study
Khan is indeed a very acomplished fighter but deffinately owns a glass chin which at least 3 have deffinately proved those being Willi Limond, Gomez, and Prescot. In truth khans not proved anything to real fight fans,so your ranting mr shakeeb nawaz on how good amir is is not being listened too by those who know the game.
Shakeeb Nawaz,So Khan humiliated Barrera? what by fighting a smaller over the hill fighter who had lost two of his last four fights! and then only by a head butt,and change the record mate about Khan holding his own sparring with Pacman Freddy would only need to click his fingers and that Glass chin cherry picking side stepping hype up protected Fraud would be layed out like bad rug. PS talking of humiliation three points Limond Gomez Prescott!!!!now thats what i call enough said.
YES HE CAN
khan is a young prospect making his way to the US to futher and better himself i say good luck to him, he is 23 and has a great team behind him, say or think what you like he seems determined to make a success of him self,i look forward to his next fight
Also, Shakeeb
Khan fighting Malignaggi isn’t going to shut anybody up as it’s Khans chin that is in doubt not his boxing ability!
I have no problem with Khan but it’s a lot of the asian people using this site that are fuelling the dislike towards Khan in the first place. You don’t hear white people only banging on about white fighters (look at all the positive comments on Haye and various other posts!) There are a number of asian people who only come on here to talk about Amir Khan, kiss his arse and then s**g off other fighters. That’s what is causing this problem! Khan is good but never gonna be a p4p champion as his chin will not hold up, that’s my opinion and i’m entitled to it. Am i a racist? No i’m not!
ITS A DEBUT FIGHT IN THE STATES..AND WHO BETTER THEN 2 FACE MAGIC MAN..jheezzz
depends how many poeple they can con into thinking khan is the real thing.
over here we all know about the breidis prescott humiliation but they mabey dont know much about that in the states or limond or gomez knocking khan down.
so when he beats mailgnaggi with his flashy combos then im sure alot of fans will think he’s great. then they keep putting him in with lame fighters with no punch, they can keep the con factor going forever, they kept it going in this country for five years now.
i am a bit sick of khan
I do think fighting at Lightweight when he clearly wasnt one affected his chin. But i do think it worsened an already bad chin.
Hes definatly suspect to a big shot, always will be, but i expect him to be able to take more than a stiff jab like what started the Prescott defeat now hes fighting at 140.
Khan has every possibility of becoming a star, but he cant keep facing soft punchers one after the other and he cant afford to get knocked out.
The only way a Brit, or any foreigner, can become a huge star in America is by being the real deal. And Khans got a way to go yet to prove hes the real deal.
But good luck to him over there, hope he dont pick up the accent and start eating gritz
At last, King Khan will silence all the critics by fighting Malagnaggi, his superb skill will onslaught any type of gammon like fighting in progress to Malagnaggi. This shows he has courage and dedication by taking this fight, Well done Khan. Maidana doesnt deserve to fight khan yet, whats he done? Khan humiliated Barrera, beat world champ kotelnik. And now hold his own in sparring with p4p king pacman. Enough said.
Amere Con is all hype.
I would have a lot more respect for Khan, if he fought Maidana instead of hand picking Malignaggi. But it does not surpise he has ducked yet another fight, he has done it all his career, claiming he was the best lightweight in britain without fighting british champion John Murray and at the time European Champion Jon Thaxton.
Jam,take the rest of em with you we never wanted you er in the first place so f/u & f/o.
Not a huge Khan fan or anything of the sort but I keep hearing Khan is virtually unknown, less known that Maidana etc. That maybe the case to the general public but then how many boxers are well known to the general public. In a boxing fan world Khan must be one of the most written/talked about boxers in the entire world and those who clearly hate him like alot of writers on this site are only serving to help make him the star they for whatever reason don’t want him to be.
look lets be 100% honest guys, khan has great speed skill decent power and alot of heart…but a suspect chin, i think he can and will beat all of the current light welterweights champs but will also get ko again at some point in his career..
funny comments jam lol ……Khan next fight will be a tough one … bradley or devon I guess
If khan beats mallagni he should fight madaina just to silence critics.Khan is better then bradley but not ready for him because of lacking experience. After that, he should fight devon alexander.
JAM according to you then, it seems your tar everyone whos English with the same brush, ‘they all drink beer and are no hopers’ This is a boxing site not politics. Keep your negative thoughts about this country and its people to yourself or find an approprite site to talk about it. Not this boxing site.
khan is not all hype with a bad chin. I can only assume that all of these negative posts come from people who have never watched him fight or know nothing about boxing. If you had watched any of his fights you would know that Khan is a huge prospect and I believe in time he will ko all of these over hyped americans you lot keep banging on about like Bradley & Alexander. They talk Khan down because they dont want to fight him.
Mallignagi is a tough fighter who went the distance with cotto, could of gone the distance with hatton if his corner didn’t stop the fight.
mallignagi even said that buddy mcgirt couldn’t bring the best out of him and since he left buddy mcgirt, mallinaggi has been a totally different proposition.
taking a close look at the juan diaz fights confirms mallignagis statements.
secondly
MrFlint – it is his debut fight in US, why would he go for a hard hitting dangerous fighter for his first fight there… too many pints of beer have eroded your brain cells
“Malignaggi is well known to hardcore boxing fans, but virtually completely unknown among casual boxing fans….” what a load of bull. Malinaggi is well known because he fought Cotto and Diaz, and fought on HBO lots of times, and has a big mouth, he is much better known then Maidana and Bradley, therefore, a good debut fight!
You know reading this article you can sense the neuances of hate, ambivalence and jelousy…why! i am glad Khan left this country (as i plan to)… It is cold, miserable, full of jelous no hopes who spend all their money down the pub and blame hard working ethnic minorities for all their ills…fu** em
In order for Amere Con to become a star in boxing. He will have to stop being a fraud and a coward and fight the best in his division. He has to stop fight aging boxing legends that are too small for him with his cheating headbutt tactics. He needs to learn how to be brave and fight the boxers who are still in their prime. Like Marcos Maidana and Timothy Bradley.
this goes for the first comment saying who did hatton fight when his was 23… hatton did not go for a world tittle like khan has now.. if you go for one of the highest world title you can get in boxing be ready to defend it against ANYONE who deserves it. if your not ready to take on challenges because your 23 hahaha then quit wasting EVERY true fighters time and give up the belt.. you don’t deserve it. if you want to make a living don’t make it by making the sport of boxing look bad. if you are a bit* and afraid to fight anyone then that is not your sport try dodgeball! im tired of all this wannabe fighters making boxing look bad
More yawnful Khan hatred from a guy with no life…….
Khan is a joke and now with cherry picker Roach in his corner they should start playing dodge ball, cus their gona dodge anyone younger than 35, and with more than 5 ko’s.
in order for khan to be a star in america, he needs to be the best in his division. since i don’t see him beating bradley any time soon, it aint gonna happen. he needs to fight those big punchers to add drama in the fight. who wants to see a tall junior welter jab all night?
Freddy,Khan holds a world title,will be charging you PPV and talks about becoming a superstar whilst obviously avoiding big hitters-he invites criticism because he got blasted by the only puncher he has faced,was troubled by light hitting Lamond and have a look at him being wobbled in the amateurs.His chin is weak and will still be weak if his skin was green,blue or polka-dot!
Best thing that cud happen to kahn i think. Wait and see, Kahn will have a fantastic career and i can garuntee that he will one day be the p4p king. With roach on his left and golden boy on his right, kahn can do no wrong
LOL i agree with freddy, what the writer is forgetting is Amir khan is well known in the UK so PPV in th UK will do well for him so atleast khan is known somewhere which is likely to bring some money where as Maidana isnt known well in anywhere expect properly his home country!!! BUT IT WONT BRING AS MUCH MONEY AS UK PPV!!! Sean McDaniel BASIC ECONOMIC!!!
Khan is all hype with a glass chin.
Its got to the point where i read your articles simply for the comedy value. ko by prescott in 1 round, i wonder if you also mention hatton needing an oxygen mask after the paquiao fight, in all your articles. I mean who did hatton fight that was so great by the age of 23? or even calzaghe? lets be honest your just trying to slate khan to appease all those racially divided boxing fans living in council estates. let me guess how you would respond to this, WE ALL HAVE TO MAKE A LIVING.