By William Mackay: World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) was filled with excuses as to why he’s not facing the knockout artist WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana (27-1, 26 KO”s) next on May 15th, saying in an article at the Sportinglife “Marcos Maidana was the mandatory, but the WBA have said that because it would be two mandatories back to back, they can’t really do that, so they have not put that [Maidana-Khan] as a mandatory fight.”

I bet Khan is relieved about that. Maidana, a huge puncher with a heavy pressure style of fighting that is similar to WBC lightweight Edwin Valero, would be more than a handful for the tender-chinned Khan to have to deal with. Instead of facing Maidana, Khan, 23, will be likely facing light-punching Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) on May 15th. There’s a huge difference Malignaggi, who can’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag, and Maidana.

Khan would be in constant danger against Maidana and would literally be running all fight long to save from being knocked out. I have a lot of faith in Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach, but in this case I seriously doubt he could employ any gimmicks that Khan could use to turn back Maidana. All I can see Roach having Khan do is jab and run.

The only other option besides that is to try and have Khan to selectively mix it up with Maidana, but if Khan does that, there’s a good chance he’ll be knocked out again because Maidana punches too hard. Khan was knocked out in the 1st round by lightweight Breidis Prescott in 2008. Khan hasn’t faced a big puncher since then. He was supposed to be fighting Maidana next, but his new promoters Golden Boy Promotions arranged for Khan to sidestep Maidana for the time being for a fight against the better known Malignaggi.

The theory here is that Khan will get more attention by beating Malignaggi than he will by beating a guy like Maidana. I don’t agree with that. I think most of the fans that tune into the fight will be casual boxing fans and they’ll likely be able to see after the first 30 seconds of action that Malignaggi has no power and is mostly a pot shot fighter.

Those guys are often frustrating to watch for fans. I think Khan would get much more respect if he was to fight Maidana, because he’d be trying to take Khan’s head off all night long and Khan would either have to run for his life or try trade with him. Obviously, Khan would probably opt to run rather than trade because Maidana hits a lot harder than him and Khan’s chin hasn’t been the sturdiest. Khan might stink up the joint if he runs all night long against Maidana, to be sure, but what choice to does he have.

I don’t think the boxing public will suddenly become enamored with Khan if he beats a light puncher like Malignaggi. Even if he does look good against Malignaggi, boxing fans will still be just as turned off when they see Khan face Maidana and either end up running for his life all night long or getting knocked cold. By not fighting Maidana, Khan is putting off what could be either a painful loss or a terrible performance by only one fight. What the point? Any fans that Khan wins in a victory over Malignaggi will be just as turned off as they would be if Khan had faced Maidana first.

Khan says “I wanted to fight [Juan Manuel] Marquez who is a tougher opponent [than Maidana], a bigger name who just fought against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and lost in 12 rounds. But Marquez refused yesterday, so now the ball is in my court. It’s quite hard because after knocking out [Dmitri] Salita, people now recognize me as a tough world champion. There are a few names I want to fight. Also there are fighters like Nate Campbell, Victor Ortiz, maybe even Maidana when he gets a bit bigger name. This game is all about business and it’s about making the right fights at the right time.”

I don’t agree with Khan’s description of how people recognize him as a “tough world champion.” As far as I can tell, a lot of people see Khan as a weak-chinned cherry picker, at least this is what is written about him in the boxing forums. Maybe Khan is talking about fans of his. Salita really wasn’t a good gauge of the talent of Khan, because Salita had never fought a 1st tier fighter because facing Khan.

Also, Khan mentions, Campbell and Ortiz, as potential opponents for him. Ortiz isn’t much better known than Maidana, so I don’t understand how he would be a better option. And Campbell is 37-years-old and has only recently moved up from the lightweight division. And the way that Khan mentions Maidana, saying “maybe even Maidana when he gets a bigger name,” it seems as if Khan might not be facing him anytime soon.

I can’t imagine that the WBA will allow Khan to skip over Maidana for more than one fight without putting their foot down and requesting that he fight him. And Khan speaks of Maidana as if he’s better known than him. He is in England, but in the United States, Khan and Maidana are both unknown fighters. That’s like the pot calling the kettle black. Khan should have said “when we [Khan and Maidana] get a bigger name” not “maybe even Maidana when he gets a bigger name.”