Khan vs. Malignaggi bout to be officially announced on Friday
March 9th, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan will be holding a press conference in London on Friday along with Paulie Malignaggi to announce their May 15th bout at the Madison Square Garden, New York, New York. This will be the 23-year-old Khan’s debut fight, and he wants to make a favorable impression on the American public by beating the 29-year-old Malignaggi. The Khan-Malignaggi fight will be shown on HBO, which will allow millions of boxing fans a chance to see Khan fight for the first time. If he fails to impress in this fight, then he has a lot of work to do to pick up fans in the U.S.
Khan is being brought along slowly to prevent him from being knocked out again like was against Breidis Prescott in 2008, but he’s going to have to be managed very carefully because of his weak chin to keep him away from certain fighters like Marcos Maidana, Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley, Victor Ortiz, Ricardo Torres, Mike Alvarado, Kendall Holt, Juan Urango, and Randall Bailey. As long as Khan is kept away from those fighters, he should do all right and be able to fight well.
The good news is that the WBA, the belt that Khan currently holds, only has Ortiz, Maidana and Alvarado below Khan. He won’t have to fight Maidana for at least year, possibly longer if Maidana loses to contender Victor Cayo on March 27th. However, Khan will still have to probably face Ortiz and Alvarado at some point. Those will be tough fights for Khan to win, because he would have to be able to take at least dozen hard shots every round to get a victory.
I don’t have faith in his ability to take those kinds of shots, even in low numbers. Likewise, if Maidana gets by Cayo later this month, Maidana could be a knockout waiting to happen for Khan. I don’t see Khan being able to run enough to get a win over Maidana. Eventually, he’ll catch up to Khan and plant him. But Khan could get lucky if Maidana is out-boxed by the tall Cayo this month, because Cayo is a weak puncher, and Khan would stand a much better chance against him than he will if he’s forced to fight Maidana.
Malignaggi is a name fighter for Khan. I don’t see Malignaggi as ever being able to win another belt in the light welterweight for the remainder of his career. The division has improved dramatically since Malignaggi won the IBF title over Lovemore N’dou in 2007. I see Malignaggi as more of an opponent for the light welterweight champions to get easy wins against without having to face the danger of taking on tough punchers like Maidana, Bradley, Ricardo Torres, Randall Bailey, Holt, Alvarado and Ortiz.
Khan should be able to beat Malignaggi without getting dropped. However, if Khan is put down or stopped by Malignaggi, then I think it might be a good idea for Khan to consider retirement. If he can’t beat a weak puncher like Malignaggi, then there’s no way he’ll be able to make it through fights against Maidana and Ortiz. I see it as a race against time. Khan will make money up until he’s finally matched against one of those aforementioned fighters. Once that happens, I see Khan being destroyed and along with it the gravy train.
Tags: 27 Responses to “Khan vs. Malignaggi bout to be officially announced on Friday”
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I will hold judgement on Khan until the end of the year, every boxer knows you wanna make it big, America is the place you have to crack. Would’ve liked to have seen him fight against Maidana, T.Bradley or Devon Alexander but later in the year. Malignaggi is not a big puncher granted and Khan’s chin won’t be tested by him unlike the other three mentioned would’ve. I reckon because we all want to see Khan on his A**E again to see how he responds, its been overlooked that Malignaggi does go the distance and is known to throw many combo’s, how will Khan respond to that type of fighter he could lose on a points decision. But in the end Khan will more than likely have the judges scorecard result, if he wants to make an impression a 7th round stoppage in empthatic fashion would make headlines in the U.S.
just think, paulie will be sitting where maidana should have been sat. except maidana would have won so paulie is going to be there instead.
More brainless Khan bashing..Roy Jones Jr managed to have a great career without a great chin. Why the hatred? You got a guy with a lightning fast offence but cursed with a poor chin. That makes for great fights IMO!
fighting ortiz in the amateurs and fighting him now is different. khans style is very good for amateurs, but the problem is without the head gear on he’ll get knocked out.
he’s being hyped up in a similar way he was before prescott showed the world he cant take a jab let alone a punch.
there’s a very ugly knockout waiting just around the corner and EVERYONE including his fans knows it. so good luck when he’s flattened in the most humiliating style again at least i wont be shocked and have to go through all that again.
the past is a lesson, the wise take head, the foolish ignore it and suffer indeed.
Trash-Khan
cmon khan… all of essex is behind you… knock paula out… im travelling to see on may 15th WARRRR KHAN!!!
@ oli
I suppose khan should fight devon and bradley at the same time EHHH.
wots so good about bradley?? 46% ko record against d class fighters oli how stupid are you mate!!!! khan will beat them all at 140 skills pay bills and amir has too many skills for bradley.
bradleys so good he hasnt any fans because anyone with half a brain knows he has already hit his peak and aint all that keep dreamin oli !!!!!
King Khan is the next GOLDEN BOY. He’s got the looks and the skill set to make him a heartthrob like Osar Delahoya. Khan’s fresh and slick like Prince Naseem. Khan’s quick with his hands like Sugar Shane in his prime. People under estimate Khan’s power. He’s got some lightning power punches. What you can’t see will hurt you more. King Khans got America by its balls. Khan will make a name for himself in America. If the ladies love him then the sports world will love him. That’s just the facts.
i leave in brooklyn new york ….its gonna be awsome fight.. i cant wait to see it live…go amir
khan is a pretty decent fighter from what i seen thus far. but now that he’s facing good competition he’ll really have to prove himself to win the hearts of many. I’m going with paulie ” the magic man” malignaggi on this one.
“Khan will still have to probably face Ortiz and Alvarado at some point. Those will be tough fights for Khan to win, because he would have to be able to take at least dozen hard shots every round to get a victory”
When Khan does fight either one of them, mark my words, people like Gilfoid would say Ortiz and Alvarado have weak chins, no lateral movement etc… excuses will be manufactured in advance such a way that if Khan loses to them then the ground work is already prepared for an almighty backlash.
@anonymous- Khan will duck Devon now after what he did to urango. Khan will NOT be fighting Devon. That is what we DO know. We dont know yet who khan will fight next IF and its a big IF he beats paulie but we know who it WONT be and thats Devon Alexander or Tim Bradley or marcos maidana. That much is guarenteed! So id shut up about Bradley duckin devon if i were you. Khan is ducking them ALL thats a FACT
Not to take anything from Kahn but Paulie is too experienced and quick for him…..
I reckon Khan could beat madaina as madaina has’nt got a chin better than khan.
so if khan stays away from him, outboxes and uses reache and height, he could time a shot and stop the ko king!
and that would be impressive!
when do tickets go on sale?
I would preffer to see Khan vs. Marcos Maidana , but of course Khan is probably going to try to avoid Maidana as long as he can by fighting Ortiz after this fight if he wins. Khan can not take a punch and would be running around the ring to not get hit by a power puncher like Maidana. I still don’t understand Khan is considered to be a top contender if he hasn’t fought any of the top fighters of the moment. He even tried to get a fight against a much smaller veteran opponent – Juan Manuel Marquez.
Every time I post a comment the mod must delete it..and its not even like I used any profanity..Someone must be a Khan fan..
All the khan haters must be blind !! Once paulie is beaten khan must face the likes of ortiz who he has already beat.Maidana please he wont even get a punch in on amir.
Bradley another protected fighter makes all the mouth but ducks devon thats a fact.Made nate come up in weight and fought and beat peterson another salita job !!
Devon vs khan will be the fight to watch
close call.
surprise surprise khan is fighting the weekest puncher he could posibly find. What a fraud
Kahn is actually better than you think Scott. Lightning quick and good power. Sure his chin is suspect but if he is managed carefully this will improve over time.
He is young.
@ 12TH ROUND – Yeah khan did beat ortiz twice as an amateur, pro game is totally different , no head gear no stupid pointing system. one shot can change a bout – but i think khan would be a favourite against ortiz but ortiz has one hell of a chance . Khan has no bigf names on his record. Lets wait and see how the career of Amir Khan unfolds.
Ortiz has improved lots since the amateur days .. Khans chin has not!
Malignaggi may have been under consideration to fight mayweather recently – but he didn`t. Because Floyds people knew the public wouldn`t buy it.
Amir Khan is a joke.
khans got no option but to impress, if alexander can destroy urango like that, then khan must do something neither cotto nor hatton could do to malignaggi wich is lay him out within 6 rounds
why does it matter if its santiago, mackay or one of the other twats on this site they just write this stuff to get hits.
we all know Malignaggi recently fought Hatton, and was also being lined up by mayweather, so how is it that khan is such a crap boxer, yet you still claim most boxers aren’t good enough to fight him?
We must all email the owners of the site and request that this foolish wrighter is banned as he is bringing the site down
Who is with me??
You are totally correct about Kahns weak chin however I find your comment that he should retire utterly herlerious, are you aware that Khan is 23??
Scott your forgetting one thing Amir Khan destroyed Victor Ortiz twice as a amateur, once stopping him in the 2nd round and once 15-3 on points, so there’s no chance this chump would beat him. Do your homework amateurish muppet.