By Nate Anderson: Recently, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan moved from promoter Frank Warren to Golden Boy Promotions. Instead of facing World Boxing Association light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana, Khan is being positioned to fight former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi. In other words, Khan is being put in with a fighter who is little threat to knock him out because Malignaggi has almost zero power to speak of.

Before that, Golden Boy management was looking to put Khan in with Juan Manuel Marquez, the WBO lightweight champion. Marquez is 36-years-old, coming off a one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year, and not in the same weight class as Khan. It’s a fight that would have been a tough one for Marquez to take because of his age and the superior size of Khan.

The thing is Khan was already matched against an older fighter last year in 35-year-old Marco Antonio Barrera, and if he was to be put in with another older fighter, it seems as if this is a move that is being done for no other reason than to build a name for Khan at the expense of matching him against younger fighters the same size as him that would test him.

Khan and Maidana are supposedly building a name for themselves by facing other fighters before they meet up in a bout later possibly next year. But if Khan is going to be continuously matched soft in an effort to make him better known and more of a money maker, what’s going to happen when he finally gets put in with a fighter that’s young enough and talented enough to beat him? Khan needs to be put in with Maidana so that Khan can learn how to face a big puncher.

Maidana won’t the first big puncher or the last one that he faces during his career. Khan has to learn how to deal with fighters like Maidana now while he’s still young. If Khan is purposely shielded from big hitters until he’s older, he’s going to have even more problems dealing with them because he will have become used to being able to dominate light punchers and won’t have the tools to deal with them.

If not Maidana, then put Khan in with Victor Ortiz or Ricardo Torres. If neither of them takes off Khan’s head, then he might have a career. I would then look to put him in with someone like Kendall Holt or Juan Urango. Those guys can punch a little and are good at putting pressure on their opponents. Khan has to learn how to deal with fighters that are going to be backing him up trying to level him with every swing.

After establishing that Khan is capable of beating all the big punchers in the light welterweight division, then I would put him in with WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley and WBC light welterweight title holder Devon Alexander to see if Khan has the boxing skills to beat skilled opponents. Those guys are awfully good and it would require a lot for Khan to beat them.

Even if he loses, he’ll still likely learn a great deal from the defeats and grow as a fighter. I can’t say the same thing if Khan keeps getting put in with paper champions and weak ex-champions like Malignaggi. That’s a big waste of time for Khan. Honestly, the way that Khan is being brought along now it seems that they’re looking to make him a star based on fights against old guys and fighters that shouldn’t be champions to begin with.