Why Schaefer is wrong in giving Khan a chance against Mayweather?

By Rameez Haider - 12/23/2013 - Comments

khan4045(Amir Khan pictured here after his fight with Marcos Maidana) By Rameez Haider: After hearing Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer talk about Amir Khan having a great chance against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and after reading people’s responses, it seemed only right that someone actually bring it back down to reality and explain how Schaefer is just simply wrong.

Many people have spoken about Khan having great speed and being a good mover in the ring etc but if you look back at any of Khan’s fights there are some fundamentals that need to be taken into account.

Firstly Khan always gets caught. I have never seen a single fight where Khan has not had a leaky defence. This is something none of his coaches so far have been able to fix. Whether it be against weaker opponents like Molina or Diaz or against the better fighters like Garcia and Maidana Khan has always been caught with flush shots, so how do you think he is going to do against the most accurate puncher on the planet.

Secondly we all know Khan has a weak chin. Without stating the obvious people argue Mayweather is not a big puncher yet he has knocked out 26 of his 45 opponents, which makes him a bigger puncher than Diaz who seemed to have Khan startled every time he caught him. Khan knocked out Hatton who had a much better chin than Khan and I am sure Mayweather has enough power to knock Khan out.

Thirdly Khan does not have the power to hurt Mayweather. Over the last 12 to 18 months it has become apparent that Khan does not have the power to hurt or stop Mayweather. When Khan has come up against stronger opposition like Peterson or Garcia, he simply has not been able to push them back with his power. Khan has the ability to knock people out with consistent flurries but this is Mayweather we are talking about. He has the best defence and one of the best chins in the game and this is something Khan will not be able to overcome.

Fourthly Khan has had 1 fight at welterweight and struggled. Every boxer seems to have the same idea that when they go up in weight they will suddenly get stronger and have better punch resistance but this simply is not the case and certainly not in Khans case. His 1st fight at welterweight was against weak opposition and we saw how he struggled against Diaz. How Khan will be able to fair any better against the best boxer on the planet?

Fifthly Khan can’t fight on the inside. Whenever he has been put under pressure by the likes of Maidana or Peterson he has resorted to pushing his opponent back or pushing their head down but has never shown the ability to be able to box in the pocket. Again something Mayweather has shown he is capable of doing on more than one occasion.

Finally Khan does not have the mental strength. If you are to beat Mayweather it will require a boxer to be able to think and adapt in the ring throughout the whole fight in order to try and break Mayweather’s rhythm. Khan in all his fights simply can’t adapt to situations. Against Peterson when he was pushed back he could not adapt. When Garcia cut the ring off Khan could not adapt and as a result ends up getting into a tear up which he will always lose due to his defensive flaws and a poor chin.

This isn’t an assassination on Khan and his boxing ability but it is simply the truth. People who say this fight is about Mayweather building a fan base in Europe are way off as if you come to Europe you will see he has a massive fan base. Just the sheer number of people who turned out to see him at the Peacock boxing gym in London would indicate how many fans he has in Europe. This fight is about business and the fact it would tap into the UK market more as it would be a British fighter trying to beat Mayweather, whether Khan has a big fan base or not the fact is people will want to watch him attempt to dethrone Mayweather.

I see this fight if it happens as being ideal for Mayweather. I see Mayweather going straight for Khan getting up close and taking Khan out. I see Mayweather trying to create a statement that he can be the aggressor and take Khan out and in doing so setting himself up for his next fight. In regards to Khan I do believe he is capable of going on to do some good things in boxing, however he needs to fight around his strengths and weaknesses and not believe his own hype about being a great fighter already. If he had done this then he would have realized that he is not ready for this fight and needs to gradually work his way into the welterweight division.

People will still continue to argue about the Pacquiao fight and I see a couple of scenarios. If Pacquiao beats a solid opponent in his next fight then potentially the next fight could be Mayweather but I honestly think Mayweather’s last fight on his Showtime contract will be Pacquiao so that he can cement his legacy and walk away. One thing is for sure if the Mayweather vs. Khan Fight happens, I can’t give Khan even a puncher’s chance.



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