By Nate Anderson: In less than a minute, the hard-punching knockout artist Breidis Prescott (20-0, 18 KOs) destroyed the highly touted lightweight Amir Khan in the 1st round in September 2008, taking him out with powerful left hooks and exposing Khan’s weak chin in the process. The win elevated the 25 year-old Colombian to the 5th spot in the WBO while also moving him up to the #12 position in the IBF and #13 in the WBA rankings.
However, now four months later, Prescott still as of yet has no opponent scheduled for his next fight. For a young fighter like him, he needs to stay busy so he can continue moving up.
With his impressive showing against Khan, however, Prescott might be considered too dangerous for other top contenders in the lightweight division, some of whom won’t want to take the risk in fighting someone as powerful and little known as Prescott.
Khan has mentioned wanting a rematch with him but it’s highly unlikely that his management will let him get back in the ring with Prescott for another two to three years, if then. Prescott would severely test Khan’s chin if there were a rematch, and it’s doubtful that Amir would be able to take the kind of shots he did last time without folding once again. Khan needs the fight more than Prescott does to try and redeem himself, but don’t count on it happening.
Anthony Peterson – ranked just above Prescott in the number #4 position in the WBO, is an interesting option. He has good skills, excellent jab and likes to throw in combinations. Peterson mixes it up with his opponents and isn’t afraid to take a shot. Peterson would be there for Prescott’s big shots and it would be a great fight for both Prescott and Peterson.
Juan Diaz – The former WBA/WBO/IBF light weight champion would be a good option for Prescott, except that he’s facing Juan Manuel Marquez in February for the vacant IBO title and won’t be available for Prescott in the near future. However, his style of fighting would be perfect for Prescott, as Diaz likes to stand in front of his opponents and try to outwork them at close range.
This would present a stationary target for Prescott, who has often had to chase after his opponents during his fights, making it easy for him to land his huge bombs. Diaz would be a very difficult fighter for Prescott if the fight goes beyond the 6th round due to Diaz’s high work rate, but with Prescott’s power, he’d have a good chance of ending it well before then.
Marco Antonio Barrera – At 34, with two losses in his last three rights, it’s doubtful that Barrera would have enough left to be competitive with Prescott nor is it likely he would risk fighting a dangerous puncher like him. Four years ago this would have been a perfect fight for both fighters, but at this point Barrera would likely take a beating and end up getting knocked out quickly. A win over Prescott would work wonders on Barrera’s fading career but I doubt that he’d risk facing a young lion like Prescott.
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