By Mohamed Horomtallah: Some so-called hardcore fans have raised doubts with respect to this fight, claiming that Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) does not deserve the shot and that it would be an easy win for Floyd Mayweathe Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s), thus not worth paying for.
Those same people go on to argue that Marcos Maidana would be a more appealing option due to Marcos “El Chino” Maidana last fight against Adrien Broner. This writer respects everybody’s opinion, however, those arguments carry no weight. Here’s why:
When it comes to the sport of boxing, fans, casual or hardcore, want excitement and drama. Mayweather has been criticized for his boring style even though he’s the maestro of his craft and a Gog gifted athlete that turns a fight into a thing of beauty.
In his last fights, including Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Saul “Canelo”, Mayweather put on clinics and made his opponents look slow, flat footed, lost inside the ring. Instead of taking their hats off to the genius of Mayweather, some fans chose instead to insist on the fact that the pound for pound king does not face fast fighters withy movement and a high work rate.
Now that the Amir Khan fight is about to be announced, those same so-called fans are changing their opinion once more.
Any real boxing fan will tell you that Amir Khan is a very talented fighter with lightning speed. He is exciting to watch and brings drama and action to the table. His style versus that of Mayweather will give the fans the most exciting fight they ever saw Mayweather in. There is not a single doubt about that. Expect fireworks.
Detractors are quick to bring the “glass jaw” issue. Let’s be honest about it, there is no “glass jaw” issue whatsoever. Some fans have a tendency to twist facts counting on the fact that if you repeat it long enough, it becomes the truth. Khan can take a shot and most importantly, get up after one.
Let’s not forget that Khan was schooling Garcia and overwhelming him before Danny landed that hail Mary, eyes closed left hook that caught Khan flush just below the ear and sent him to the canvas, head first. Just the fact that he was able to get up from that shot goes to show the kind of heart that Amir brings to the ring.
In Khan’s fight against Lamont Peterson in 2011, Peterson tested positive for a banned performance enhancing drug, a mystery man and points deducted for Lamont to come out victorious.
It is amusing to hear some fans question Khan’s legitimacy when he beat world class opposition In all of his losses, opponents did not beat Khan, he beat himself by himself. Pride, too much heart, overconfidence and a questionable ring IQ will do that to a fighter.
Khan does not have a “glass jaw” issue because in his two TKO losses he finished on his feet. He just need to be smarter in the ring and that’s precisely what his trainer Virgil Hunter is working on since he took over as head coach. That’s the reason why Danny Garcia is not giving him a re-match despite the big payday that’ll come with it because he knows that he will not get lucky again and the fight will play out exactly like it was before the hail Mary shot.
The last issue that the so-called fans will bring up is the lack of drawing power of Mayweather vs. Khan. Are they kidding?!
Mayweather is the undisputed pay-per-view king. He’s a cross over super star. His fights are events filled with celebrities. Khan, on the other hand, is an international celebrity and has a huge fan base in several countries around the world including Britain, the U.S, U.A.E, France, India and Pakistan. He has the most followers on twitter after Mayweather. He is charismatic and his good looks will bring female fans to the table.
Once the fight is made official, expect the promotion to go viral and watch how the “all access” for this event will be the most entertaining ever, with two charismatic and cocky fighters creating further interest in the bout. We’re not talking Guerrero or even Canelo here, who made their “all access” series boring, leaving Mayweather with the responsibility to sell the fight alone, no, we’re talking about Amir Khan, who is entertaining both inside and outside the ring.
Khan did not look good in his last two fights, so did Canelo (specially against Trout) but that doesn’t take away anything from the interest for this fight. Khan will be focused and will bring his A game come fight night.
Most boxing experts agree : Khan will give Mayweather a lot of troubles and has a good chance of walking away with a decision.
The fight will entertain, bring surprises and drama and you’ll pay to watch it…
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