Amir Khan should not move up in weight

By @James_theGrad - 01/03/2013 - Comments

khan42 - CopyBy James Le Blanc IV: It’s not how brash and over confident Amir Khan can be that makes him one of my favorite fighters.  That description could be said about almost any fighter from Great Britain, it’s just the way they are. It’s Amir Khan’s dedication to the sport that makes him one of the most exciting and fan friendly fighters out there today.

Amir is one of few fighters that dedicates his craft to collecting belts.  He set out to rule the junior welterweight division by fighting the very best.  A showdown with him and Tim Bradley never fell through for Khan so he was forced to take on Lamont Peterson in late 2011. 

Unfortunately the judges, referee, and mystery man fondling score cards didn’t want that fight to go Khans way so he lost.  While Khan did not completely dominate Peterson like he would have liked, and while he took more punishment than he would have liked in that fight, it is my opinion that he won by decision.  I don’t want to break down everything that went wrong during that fight, just know that anyone that faces Lamont in DC isn’t a smart man.  It was Khans brashness that brought him to Peterson’s back yard and while this was good on Khan, and good for the city and the sport, as Max Kellerman says, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Khan wanted to collect all the belts in the Junior Welterweight division before moving up to Welterweight and attempting the same thing.  After a rematch was cancelled due to Peterson testing positive for PED’s Khan took on Danny Garcia who derailed these plans in a unification bout last year by dropping Khan three times in route to a 4th round KO victory. Since then Khan has fired Freddie Roach (who had a terrible year last year with all his major fighters losing) and hired 2011’s trainer of the year in Virgil Hunter.  Despite the heavy talk coming out of that camp into Khans next fight about how Khan has improved his defense and style, he looked very much the same in overwhelming his latest opponent, undefeated Molina. Khan has that swarming offensive style where he throws an incredible number of combinations per round. It was too much for Molina and has been too much for a lot of other Junior Welterweights.  It was too much for Garcia who finally closed his eyes and swung for the fences stopping Khan in his tracks.

Khan has recently expressed his desire to once again attempt to conquer the junior welterweight division before finally moving up to Welterweight and attempting the same thing.  Based on Amir’s track record, I don’t believe moving up in weight is a smart idea.  Khan has proven he has a difficult time taking a Junior Welterweight punch, moving up 7 pounds will not make things any easier, on the contrary, he will risk getting KO’d every welterweight fight he takes no matter the opposition (well there is Paulie Malignaggi). Khan was knocked out by Prescott, Rocked hard by Marcos Maidana, beat on by Peterson, and knocked out by Garcia and while I do believe Khan can over take this division and be number 1 in it again, I don’t think it’s smart for him to move up once he does that.

Look at the last few welterweight fights we have seen and how hard they hit when compared to the lighter welterweight.  Did you guys see how hard Andre Berto was hitting Victor Ortiz in the face, did you guys see Ortiz get his jaw broken by Lopez, and just recently did we see how hard Manny got knocked out by Marquez, some people thought he was dead! Khan will move up in weight and he will definitely get rocked again, he more than likely will suffer another knockout loss as well.  While Amir Khan has courage, he has heart, and that exceptional brash, it’s in his best interest to understand his weaknesses and count his losses, I mean before they happen, and stay at the junior welterweight division.



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