By Jim Dower: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) has a high profile fight coming up next week against former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) on May 15th at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Khan, 23, looked sensational in defending his WBA title for the first time in stopping Dmitri Salita in the 1st round last time out in December. Khan will be looking to put in another Salita-like performance when he steps in the ring against Malignaggi on the 15th.

However, it might not be easy for Khan to get the same results, mainly because Malignaggi has an excellent chin, good head movement and is constantly on the move in the ring. He’s not the type of fighter that typically takes a lot of punishment in his fights. When Malignaggi does get hit, it’s typically with one big shot at a time. He’s not a fighter that will stand in front of Khan and get tagged by his combinations.

Khan hits hard but isn’t a huge puncher. He’s more of a fighter that causes damage over time and gets his knockouts with flurries against stationary fighters. Malignaggi won’t be there standing in front of Khan for him to unload with his combinations like he’s done in the past. For this reason, I expect this fight to go the distance. Malignaggi doesn’t hit hard enough to cause Khan many problems, which is probably why he was picked in the first place to fight Khan.

Had Malignaggi a lot of power, the last fighter he’d likely be in is Khan. This fight is all about Khan being pitted against a guy that isn’t much of a threat to his weak chin and someone Khan could possibly look good against and take out. Malignaggi doesn’t throw a lot of punches, so it’d doubtful he’ll be able to squeak out a decision unless he hurts Khan with something.

Normally, I would say it’s impossibility that Malignaggi would knock out anyone other than a 2nd or 3rd tier fighter, but Khan is someone you can never be sure about because of his chin problems. However, it’s likely that Khan’s chin will hold up against Malignaggi’s shots without betraying him once again. It’s been seven years since Malignaggi last scored a knockout, and I can’t see him getting a knockout in this fight unless he catches Khan with a perfect shot.

You can bet that Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach is going to be pushing him from the start to really go after Malignaggi to try and score a knockout. Roach wants to turn Khan into a mega star in the Manny Pacquiao mode and he knows the only way that’s going to happen is if Khan can take out weak punchers like Malignaggi. This may be Khan’s best chance at looking good for a long time, because after this fight, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him to step it up against guys like WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana.