Khan-Malignaggi: How long will Amir’s fame last in the U.S?
April 23rd, 2010
By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 15 KO’s) is hoping that his fight against Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) leads to big things for him in the United States. Khan is already a star in the UK, where his fights are shown on PPV and his fights are jam packed with fans. However, now that Khan is no longer fighting smaller lightweights and older fighters with little power, he’s coming to a point in his career where he will very soon find out whether he had the stuff to be a star in boxing.
If Khan struggles with Malignaggi, it could be a good indication that Khan’s future success in the light welterweight division will be severely limited. However, even if Khan does easily beat Malignaggi, Khan will still be facing a crucial test when/if he’s matched against Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley, Victor Ortiz or Devon Alexander. Any one of those fighters will be a huge obstacle for Khan, and if he loses to them, it’s doubtful that he’ll make it in the division.
These are guys that Khan will have to be able to beat if he wants to be the huge star in the U.S. The problem of Maidana may be taken care of for Khan by Bradley, who fights Maidana next in July. With Maidana safely out of the way, Khan would still have his hands full with Bradley and the other aforementioned fighters. I would like to see Khan matched against Bradley immediately if Bradley gets by Maidana next. This was the opponent that Khan was supposed to have fought by now, but Maidana was put off for three fights to get more fights under his belt so that he could get more exposure in the U.S. before fighting Khan.
Well, if Maidana is beaten, then so much for exposure. There will no reason for Khan to fight him any longer, and the one that he should be matched against at that point is Bradley. It will be really telling to see whether Khan’s handlers agree to put Khan in with Bradley at that point. I’d like to think that they would, because you can’t keep the training wheels on Khan forever without putting him against a live opponent that can possibly beat him.
However, I doubt that Khan will be allowed to fight Bradley, especially if he looks good in beating Maidana. I know Khan will eventually have to fight Bradley or else give up his WBA title, but I don’t see that fight happening next after the bout against Malignaggi. If Khan does fight Maidana or Bradley, then I believe he’ll get stopped in the same manner he did in his 1st round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008. Khan’s 15 minutes of fame, which starts with his win over a light hitting Malignaggi, will have spent. Khan would then be just another contender in the light welterweight division and would have to fight his way into another title shot and hopefully get another opportunity within a year or two.
Tags: 55 Responses to “Khan-Malignaggi: How long will Amir’s fame last in the U.S?”
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what bradley will take care who? maidana?? bradley will get owned by maidana no other way!!! kahan will fight bradley after lose from malignaggi ? that might be the case. who ever wrote these article knows very little about boxing.
piero
Bredis Prescot tells Khan how it is -
Listen Bih 54 seconds and you were Fd up bch !!!
TOTAL RESPECT BREDIS !!!TOTAL QUALITY !!!
Khans Fame might be short lived if he comes up against Malignaggi when he is on form – he looked really good against Diaz and everyone is underestimating him including Khan – Freddie says Amir will KO paulie inside 3 rounds and that aint going to happen – In Malignaggis backyard he is going to turn on the style = Malignaggi on points and the New !!!!
@ ann doesnt this make a mere con damaged goods? because he didnt lose on points he got knockrd the f”*k out
amir khan is the best
i will always be better than khan until he has the guts to step in the ring with me again.
we now only have two world champs in amir khan and david haye and no white champs at all uk need to get behind khan and haye now
uk dont have any white champs left we all know when uk white boxers fight someone good they loose in a bad way carl is a bum and is damage goods now
Pacquiao would knock out both Maidina and Khan at the same time so what’s the big deal! I forgot we’re talking jr welters here! k once these guys pass through Bradley then maybe they’ll be a threat but as of now Paulli, Khan, Maidaina, there’s really no elite fighter in this devision.
IM FROM UK DONT LISTEN TO THESE BIGGOTS IF MARCOS AND AMIR ARE HERE MAN THIS SITE IS BLESSD I LOVE ALL BOXERS OF ALL COLOUR AND CREED REGARDLESS SURE I HAVE FAVOURITES. AMIR DIDNT DUCK NO1.
Well considering Amir’s ‘fame’ in the US has yet to begin I think I’ll wait until after his first fight to make a proper judgement. However I think this is a good and safe first fight to bring Amir into the American Market. Paulie is a decent fighter, with name recognition and he is coming off of a good win but he is about 2 losses away from retirement. Paulie has some speed but no real power and with Amir’s height, reach and speed I expect him to just outbox Amir for an easy decision.
KHAN HAS A LOT GOIN FOR HIM HE IS GOING TO BE A GOOD CHAMPION. NATURAL SKILLS GO A LONG WAY.HE AINT GOTTA WEAK CHIN ANYONE WOULD’VE BEEN KO’D BY THE PUNCHES PRESSCOTT THREW. CANT WAIT TILL HES BACK IN THE UK. DESPITE WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT PEOPLE NOT BACKING HIM CUS OF HIS ASIAN HERITAGE I DONT AGREE EVERY1 I SPEAK TO LOVES HIM.
QUACK QUACK
your manditory that you DUCKED
i will put my fist straight through your glass jaw
dont get carried away khan, froch was never hyped as the next coming of ali. you have been hyped to be some kind of boxing god but i knocked you the f out in 54 seconds flat and dont forget it
Theres no point Khan being smug coz Froch lost. When Khan stops ducking the best he will lose again too
and whats david haye got to do with this thread about khan? you’re supporting him because he’s not white? get your sick heads examined, i think you’ll find most people on here like david haye and rate him quite highly
”where are the moderators to control lose headed pewople in here???”
good question
uk dont have any white uk champians at this time and the way this site is amir khan and david haye should move to usa and leave uk and they will have no champs at all uk ppl just are haters
carl froch has just lost now we only have two champians in the uk in david haye and amir khan feel sorry for froch he never made it with the top boxers
if khan is knocked down at all in this fight with malignaggi then surely his fans cannot keep on saying his chin is ok.
all this off balance, weight drained, fighting in ramadam, body weight badly disributed, bad defence, its all excuses.
david bailey knocked khan down but the ref just ignored it, the punch connected and he went down.
drilzane, limond, gomez, prescott and everyones seen craig watson knock him down. the evidence he isnt the real thing is there for all to see. freddie roach is just hyping khan up way too much, but thats his job.
@ oli
Paulie is small and weak then in your eyes ??
In my eyes good enough for hatton and cotto is good enough for amir.
Whos timbo fighting ?? oh yeah marcos who kotelnic beat who khan beat !!!
And as for calling amir khan a coward thats below the belt any man who steps into the ring deserves a certain level of respect !!!
Khan is going to do what cotto and hatton failed to do and thats beat a slick very skilled boxer in paulie no towels needed the ref will stop this one !!!
Oli – u can’t even admit that khan has good boxing skills you dumb slave
khan is exciting to watch: he engages, he fights. he’s definitely an asset to boxing. he’ll definitely beat malignaggi who’s boring, and will even knock him out. khan’s got speed and power. plus, he got roach.
How can you call him coward. A 23 year old going over to America to take on the best.
He is famous cause he is exciting.
haters of Khan are racist, but cant be open about it. So they make up negative view points about him.
this writer realy has it in for Khan.
There probably wont be any fame. Hes done the least out of any of the names at 140. The fame if it comes will be gone again the second he fights someone good whos not to small and weak.
Amir Khan is the most protected fighter in world boxing and a chinny glass coward. And hes doing nothing to silence the doubters. Malignaggi by UD
All i know is, Khan is gunna be big, then im going to ask him out on a date and hopefully get into his pants.
khans fans are the biggest bunch of c*ck suckers in the history of boxing in the modern era.
i just have a look at barrera vs kahan! barrera at the age of 37 troubled kahan badly a couple of time!! ha ha what a loser . it will be bad lose from paulie . sit if malignaggi win thes( i think he will) he will fight big names!! i think paulie pick him becouse he knows how to beat him. we will see.
i am british and i like paulie malignaggi over amir kahn but that dosent me to say i think he will win, all i hear is that its going to be kahns biggest fight, mabye so but its definatly malignaggis biggest fight of his career. i think kahn will be too much for wee paulie, but i so hope i am wrong as i say am a malignaggi fan?
I hope Bradley get’s the Superfights he deserves because for me he is the only guy out there who truly want’s to mix it up with the best on offer.
Is everyone at the Wilcard growing feathers???
Khan is ducking Maidana forever & won’t have to fight him after Bradley beat’s him next & Manny Pacquiao is terrified to share a ring with Floyd Mayweather because he ain’t got the skills to hang with Floyd & Old Fool Arum & Freddie know it.
Patience everybody, give the kid a chance to milk the cow a little before you ask him to take on the biggest fight out there…most top end boxers are always thinking about the money first, khan is young and within a few fights will have no choice but to fight the very best in the division, so we’re not talking very long to see this, Hatton & Calazaghe didn’t fight in the U.S until the twilight years of their career, at least this kid has taken that challenge on before them…
I was at the wildcard yesterday and all i can say is khan is amazeing and i can honestly can say he is the next big thing for sure these are not my words their manny’s.
I think Khans doing ok…all you haters can get it all out of your system, cus from now on hes gonna have to fight names, so im guessing your arguement time is limited. I go to his fights just to watch you haters faces drop… so satisfying!
Everyone keeps going on bout the glass chin… ya cant knock out what you cant catch…and so far only one guys caught him..and before anyone goes on bout the kevin result… kevin werent boxing he was running for 12 rounds…and that boys just aint saleable!
You gotta remember before dissing Malignaggi that Mayweather was also lining him up for a fight earlier this year..biased biased people…keep hating, cus it makes Amir even more money!
As i look at this fight more I am convinced that PM will beat Khan PM is fighting at his best which is not bad, he will win by KO and that will send shock waves to the promoters who smell big money with Khan
Nothing makes people like someone more then someone else trying to get you to hate them.
Stop with the Khan Hate please your over doing it. You dont criticise others who have taken a far easier route then Khan. It seems you just want Khan to jump in with someone unprepared, and loose. Why should Khan loose for a nobody like you. I hope Khan waits at least 3 years before fighting El Chino and Bradley. Those would be big money fights at that time, and plus he would be ready.
Khan will knock him out within the 3rd round -or he WILL lose.
Went surfing this morning all I heard about was Kahn, yeaterday at the grocery store all I heard about was Kahn, went to dinner with my son and all he talked about was Kahn, watched the weather on TV all they talked about was Kahn……….The whole USA is just obsessed about Kahn………Well there are you happy now…..actually there are about a dozen people over here who know who Kahn is,
please stop with the Khan hates
It depends what he does and who he does it against.
Hes not American so its guna be hard for him to crack the country so hes guna have to do something special but the yanks aint stupid and they know enough about Khan to know hes got the reputations hes got so facing more soft punchers will just not cut it over there.
Fighting Paulie is a great start though, Americans know what a good boxer he is and his durability so a good win over him would do Khan no harm at all.
Its what he does next that will be make or break for him in this sense, and this is IF he beats Malignaggi 1st.
I like khan because he is becoming a really developed technical fighter who picks shots, but at anytime can release his blistering speed and power at will. I would like to see his defense less limited and would also like to see situations where amir khan can change his stlye in the middle of the fight to his advantage. You see talent and smarts when put together make excelllent fighters. I really think we have a similar era in the jr welterweight divison to fighters like thomas hearns,marvin haglar,sugar ray leonard and duran, It would be foolish to ignore this division.
Sean85live
To you the only response any sane person could give would be HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA You can not be real???
If you are then i dont think boxing is the sport for you kid
@ neog
No one said Paulie Malignaggi will knock A mere Con out. Everyone knows that Paulie Malgnaggi was hand-picked by Freddie Roach to give A mere Con an easy introduction to the American audience.
khan can take shut all you critics now you have said malignaggi will knock him out or in ohter words you made clear YOU think thats going to happen, will see
Khan guna kick his arse. The kids got a brain as well as loadsa skills. If u read his latest interview about maidana bradley n america it all just fits in. Khun by tko within 6 rounds.
wonder if he beat him in better style than hatton hope not hatton ledgened
give the guy a chance you mugs
I’m very much looking forward to his arrival, Freddie Beleives he’l smash Magic in 3, i beleive him, he also reckons he’l be his next p4p superstar, and i beleive him, he’s a skinny 5’10, he could fill out and with the skills he learns, smash the opposition all the way up to Middleweight!
As they say in the Phillipines, Coach Freddie knows!
I am an American and I can honestly say that we are not excited about his arrival here in the U.S. at all in the first place. From what we can tell. He seems to be a very protected fighter. He also has not yet fought legitimate competition.