Predicting Khan’s next opponent

By Boxing News - 12/07/2009 - Comments

khan345By William Mackay: Based on his past fights, I’m not expecting to see World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan facing a tough opponent in the future. Khan has been handled with kid gloves since his brutal 1st round knockout loss last year against Breidis Prescott. Khan has rebounded from that loss, albeit against weak competition. However, I sure wish Khan would be put in with some talented fighters like Marcos Maidanda, Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley, but I don’t see it happening.

My prediction is that Khan will be put in with either Jose Luis Castillo, Kevin Mitchell, Zab Judah or Ricky Hatton. Juan Manuel Marquez’s name has been mentioned as an opponent for Khan, but that isn’t happening. Marquez is too dangerous and he’d have a good chance of tapping that chin of Khan and getting him out of there in a hurry.

You can add Breidis Prescott’s name as another opponent who won’t be on Khan’s agenda, even though I think Prescott got a bum deal against Kevin Mitchell last weekend and lost a 12 round decision in England. Khan won’t want to get back in the ring with Prescott, because this guy would be able to end the fight at a moment’s notice if he landed anything.

So here’s the list of fighters that Khan will probably fight:

Jose Luis Castillo
Kevin Mitchell
Zab Judah
Ricky Hatton

Here are the fighters that Khan should be looking at fighting:

Breidis Prescott
Timothy Bradley
Devon Alexander
Kendall Holt
Ricardo Torres
Victor Ortiz
Juan Manuel Marquez
Edwin Valero

If you look at the list of fighters that Khan will likely fight, you’ll notice a trend in which the fighters are for the most part, excluding Mitchell, older and over the hill. These are the fighters that Khan shouldn’t consider fighting if he is interested in showing that he’s a serious fighter and looking to take on the best. Judah, Hatton and Castillo may have been some of the best fighters in boxing at one time, but that time is past. Fighting them won’t prove that Khan is the best in the light welterweight division, because none of them are champions and I don’t see any of them capable of being one.

Mitchell isn’t even a light welterweight, so I have no idea why he would be considered as an opponent for Khan other than to give Amir a money fight in England. Mitchell is too short and small to compete with Khan. It won’t even be interesting to watch. Mitchell wouldn’t be able to run and pot shot all night long to get a win over Khan like he did Prescott, because I can’t see the judges’ giving Mitchell the decision against Khan.

Castillo has been beaten twice in the last three years, and stopped by Hatton in the 4th round in 2007. Last year, Castillo lost a 10 round decision to Sebastian Lujan in a one-sided loss. There’s no point in Khan fighting him other than to put Khan in with another older fighter for him to make a name off of. The same applies with Judah. He’s 32 and has lost four out of his last nine bouts. The only wins have come against lesser 2nd tier fighters. Beating Judah, which isn’t a forgone conclusion for Khan, is like throwing an old toothless lion in with him to toy with.

While I would like to think that Khan’s handlers have more faith in him than to put him in with old veterans who are many years past their best days, this is what I see happening. I honestly don’t have the foggiest idea when/if Khan will ever be put in with the likes of Bradley, Alexander, Torres, Ortiz, Valero or Prescott. It could be when they get older. Khan has age on his size and can afford to wait them out until they age past the point where they’re no longer dangerous.



Comments are closed.