By William Mackay: World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (21-1, 15 KO’s) is reportedly in negotiations for a fight against WBA number #1 contender Dmitriy Salita (30-0-1, 16 KO’s) for a title defense in December. There has been talk of Khan facing John Murray. However, that won’t be happening and was just a rumor.
Khan captured the WBA title in July with a 12 round decision over Andriy Kotelnik. The fight gave Khan his first world title, and helped make name Amir in a small way. But because of Kotelnik being perceived as little more than a paper champion to many boxing fans, the win failed to give Khan much of a boost in winning him credibility as a fighter.
It was a good move for Khan to move up a weight class from the lightweight division to the light welterweight class to capture the title. However, some people say that Kotelnik shouldn’t have had the title to begin with because he Kotelnik captured it by beating one of the weakest light welterweights in memory in Gavin Rees in March, and in addition to that, Kotelnik appeared to have been beaten by slugger Marcos Maidana in February 2009. Kotelnik ended up winning the fight by a 12 round split decision.
So, in beating Kotelnik, essentially a light puncher, Khan left lingering questions about his ability to stand up against bigger punchers and better fighters in the light welterweight division. The bout against Kotelnik, and now likely Salita, only seems to prolong the questions about Khan’s shaky chin. Salita, by the way, isn’t a big puncher either, which I suppose is one of the reasons he’s been considered for an opponent.
But if Khan can get by Salita, then Amir is looking at having to fight interim WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana, who Khan’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said he would never allow Khan to fight. So the big question is, if Khan won’t be fighting Maidana, why waste time fighting Salita?
After all, if Khan is going to not fight Maidana anyway – and thus will likely be forced to give him up his WBA title – why fight someone that doesn’t do much for Khan in terms of getting a good payday and helping to give Khan a name. Salita does nothing for Khan, and seems like more trouble than he’s worth.
I frankly don’t think Salita has done anything to deserve to be the number #1 ranked contender in the WBA, and I’m not the only one that feels this way. Khan might be better off vacating the WBA title now and avoiding looking weak by vacating when he has Maidana looming over his shoulder.
Khan could then go after an easy mark for a lot of money like Juan Diaz or Paulie Malignaggi. Neither of those fighters can punch much and aren’t a threat to Khan’s weak chin. Besides them, Khan could continue to go after Ricky Hatton or maybe even his brother, Matthew Hatton.
That would be a great fight. Khan could fight Matthew Hatton at a catch weight, beat up badly, and maybe anger Ricky Hatton enough for him to try and comeback and get revenge. I like those scenarios much better than a wasted fight against Salita, who actually be good enough to beat Khan.
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