By Dan Ambrose: WBA light welterweight champion said he’s looking to fight again in July before the start of Ramadan in August. Khan, 23, is looking at several different opponents right now, two of them being WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis and WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana. The fight that boxing fans want to see is Khan vs. Maidana. However, Maidana has a back injury and it’s unknown whether it will be sufficiently healed by July. It’s a bad enough injury that Maidana had to first postpone and then cancel a fight against WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.
Maidana would likely jump at the chance at fighting Khan, but it’s doubtful whether Maidana’s chin will be healed in time for a fight against Khan. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer wants to match Khan up against the smaller Katsidis in July. However, this would require the smallish Katsidis to come up in weight to the welterweight division for that fight to happen, and thus put Katsidis at a big disadvantage in this fight.
Katsidis might have problems with his speed if he’s forced to come up in weight to take the fight, but he’ll likely take the fight just the same if the money is right. There is talk that Katsidis would get the same money that Paulie Malignaggi got in his losing effort against Khan last weekend. Katsidis may be okay with this or he could want more. He is, after all, a champion and not just another run of the mill fighter that Khan would be matched against. Katsidis stopped unbeaten Kevin Mitchell last Saturday night in a three round blowout in Upton Park. Katsidis looked very powerful in that fight and dominated Mitchell after hurting him in the 3rd round.
Khan had an easy time defeating the feather fisted Malignaggi last weekend, using his speed, height, reach and power advantage to easily beat a fighter that was carefully selected for him. This wasn’t the fight that boxing fans to see. They wanted to see Khan, an unknown fighter in the U.S., matched against Maidana, who is much better known than Khan is in American. However, Khan and his promotional team wanted a better known fighter than Maidana for Khan’s first fight in the U.S., hence Malignaggi was selected out of the pack to fight him. Malignaggi is better known than Maidana, to be sure. However, the fight ended up being a dull one with Khan dominating an over-matched opponent who had no power to speak of.
Other than Maidana and Katisdis, it’s unknown who the third fighter that Khan and his team are considering. It would obviously be someone with a name but for a fight on short notice, it’s doubtful that it would be anyone that would much of a threat to Khan’s chin. This is why I doubt that Maidana will get the call for this fight, even if his back does heal up in time for the fight. It will probably be the smaller Katsidis who gets selected for Khan rather than a dangerous opponent from his own weight class. Golden Boy Promotion wants to ensure that Khan keeps winning and keeps looking good. That’s doubtful if he fights Maidana, who would have an excellent chance of knocking Khan out if given the chance.
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