By Shaun Campbell: As a change of tone from most of the articles on this site, this will be a totally unbiased preview. World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion Amir Khan takes on Marcos Maidana on 11th December in Las Vegas. The hard hitting Maidana who impressively holds a win over hot Golden Boy prospect Victor Ortiz, will be the toughest test for Khan to date. The champion is coming off a dominant 11th round TKO over Paulie Malignaggi. Both fighters have lost only once in their professional careers, Khan notably knocked out by Breidis Prescott, and Maidana lost a controversial split decision to former champion Andriy Kotelnik. Both fighters have decent power, and both have been hurt and knocked down early in their careers. Khan has been knocked down by the light hitting Willie Limond, Michael Gomez, and obviously Prescott at lightweight. Where as Maidana has been knocked down by Omar Leon, and also by Victor Ortiz. Both men have battled back to win, showing great heart. This is a genuine 50/50 fight in which either man could walk away with the WBA title.

The boxing ability lies with Khan, the power lies with Maidana. Khan has the speed, Maidana relentlessly presses forward. The keys to victory are clear. Khan can not afford to trade with the challengers. He can however confuse him with fast combinations and his superior foot work, which Khan impressively did against Paulie Malignaggi and Andriy Kotelnik. It is unlikely that Khan will give into the desire to get into a war with Maidana, as he has shown fantastic discipline in the past to box and move without getting hit. The improved defence he has worked on with Freddie Roach has got to be at it’s best come fight night, otherwise there is a chance Maidana will walk through Khan’s punches to land one of his own.

This leads on to the debate of whose the bigger puncher. Khan believes he hits just as hard as the Argentine, but the general feeling is that Maidana has the punching power advantage. And obviously, the question that will haunt Khan throughout his career is the weak chin he possesses. The problem for Maidana now is that now Khan knows his chin is not as strong as he would like. Early on in his career he was inexperienced and did not fight the way he should. For example, Wladimir Klitchko. He knows he can not take a punch for a hard hitting heavyweight without it registering, so he fights in a way that reduces his chances of being hit. Khan has done the same. If Maidana can get Khan against the ropes and draw him in to a war, then there is a huge chance that he can become the new champion. An important thing to consider for the Maidana camp is that the must not ignore Khans body. Khan has been hurt to the body before, and against Kotelnik he started to run out of steam in the later rounds. Malignaggi did not pressure Khan, so he therefore had much more in the tank in the later rounds. Khan has also be vulnerable to hook to the temple, and parcticularly the over hand right. If Maidana can pressure Khan, catch him early with a hard shot, and take Khan into the later stages of the fight, an upset is a serious possibility.

If Maidana is to win this fight he has to land something early to make a statement. Khan will not start fast in my opinion and these are the danger stages for him. Maidana has to jump on him early, take a shot to give a shot, and make the fight a war. If he can do that then who knows. But for me, the champion will retain his title, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to get up off the canvas to do it.