By Scott Gilfoid: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan sounds fearless as he approaches his December 5th bout against number #1 challenger Dmitri Salita, saying “After losing to Prescott I fear nothing and no man,” according to The Sun. Did you see that? Khan fears no man. Oh, I think the light welterweight division is in trouble now.

Look out Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander because Khan fears no man is ready to take on the talented, albeit little known Salita. Somehow, I’m not ready to call Khan the savior of the light welterweight division.

I’d be happy if Khan at least fought some talented fighters instead of the old codgers and light hitting fighters like Andriy Kotelnik. Khan may say he fears no man, but I sure wish he would prove it by facing a fighter with power and talent instead of light punchers Khan has been facing since he was blown out of the water in a 1st round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott last year.

Khan: Those 54 seconds most definitely changed me from a boy to a man,” Amir said referring to his 1st round knockout defeat to Prescott. Wow, that sounds inspiring. I sure wish that Khan had shown his metamorphosis in the ring by fighting a dangerous fighter like Maidana. Heck, I’d settle right now for Khan facing recently defeated Victor Ortiz. But beating a 31-year-old Kotelnik isn’t my idea of showing that you’ve changed from boy to man.

That’s like me saying I’ve changed from a boy to a man because I got a D in Calculus. And then I turn around and take a bunch of art classes and do well. How can Khan even say that he’s turned into a man when he’s still not facing the dangerous light welterweights like Maidana, Bradley, Alexander or Ortiz?

Now, I could see Khan getting excited about his development if he had beaten one of those aforementioned fighters instead of the likes of Oisin Fagan, a 35-year-old Marco Antonio Barrera and the light hitting Kotelnik. That seems to me that Khan has been selectively matched against beatable fighters.

Barrera may have been a good fighter at point in his career, but by the time that Khan fought him Barrera had seen his best days in the rear view mirror by at least three to five years ago. And Barrera was a super bantamweight in his prime and moving up to the lightweight division, he wasn’t the same fighter he used to be earlier in his career at the lighter weight.

Khan, 22, will be facing Salita, his number #1 challenger, at the Metro Radio Arena, in Newcastle on December 5th. Khan should win this fight, but what comes next will show whether he means it about turning into a man. if Khan takes on a soft opponent, which I fully expect him to do, then I see no real change in him. The dude needs to man up and take a murderous puncher for a change. Heck, give a rematch with Prescott and prove that the loss was a fluke. I could care less if Prescott is a lightweight. Fight him anyway.