Khan: Peterson can’t deal with my speed and power

By Boxing News - 11/28/2011 - Comments

Image: Khan: Peterson can't deal with my speed and powerBy William Mackay: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan was his usual cocky self during today’s telephone conference call to promote his fight against Lamont Peterson on December 10th. Khan sees himself winning either by a convincing decision or a knockout.

Either way, Khan sees himself as the winner at the end of the fight. Khan thinks this fight will help turn him into a super star despite Peterson having already been beaten by a lopsided decision by Timothy Bradley two years ago. But in Khan’s way of thinking, he equates a win over Peterson as the key to him being a super star. Khan made no mention of still having to prove that he can decisively beat Marcos Maidana or avenge a defeat at the hands of Breidis Prescott from two years ago. Khan also didn’t mention other top light welterweights like Lucas Matthyse and Mike Alvararo, both of which can really punch.

Khan said as quoted by AFP “Our job is to beat him [Peterson] and move on to bigger and better things. This is going to make me from being a good fighter to a super star. Beating Lamont Peterson will hopefully make me one of the best fighters in the world. My power, my speed, I don’t think he can cope with that…If they put Floyd Mayweather in front of me, I’ll be more than ready.”

Khan won’t be ready for Mayweather after the Peterson fight. Khan needs to really prove himself against better opposition before spouting off at the mouth that he’s ready for a guy like Mayweather. It wouldn’t be a competitive fight.

I’m sorry but beating Peterson doesn’t translate into Khan being a super star in my book. Peterson’s best wins of his career has come against Victor Cayo, Willy Blain and Lanardo Tyner. That’s it. Peterson got a 10 round draw against Victor Ortiz last year in December, but I didn’t see that fight as a draw. I had Ortiz winning it, as did HBO and a lot of boxing fans. So Khan is facing a guy whose best wins are against Cayo, Blain and Tyner. That’s pretty flimsy if you ask me. Where are the big names and why is Peterson ranked #1 by the IBF? I see this as more soft matchmaking for Khan. If a win over a badly inexperienced fighter like Peterson makes Khan a great fighter than Timothy Bradley must already be a great fighter because he defeated Peterson by a 10 round shutout, winning every round.

Khan said this about Timothy Bradley: If that fight is there, it’s worth me staying in the division. If not, I’ll go up.”

Expect for Khan to move up to the welterweight division if he beats Peterson, but I don’t see him beating the top guys at that weight. He might win a paper title, but fighters like Mayweather, Mike Jones, Andre Berto, Manny Pacquiao and Andre Berto would all knock Khan out. I doubt that Khan faces any of those guys.



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