By Sean McDaniel: Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) isn’t worried about the hand speed of Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) this Saturday in his 2nd title defense of his World Boxing Association light welterweight title at Madison Square Garden. “The sparring partners I’ve had have been quicker than he is,” Khan says in an article at ESPN.co.uk. The 23-year-old Khan will no doubt be the faster fighter in the ring on Saturday night, as Malignaggi is fast, but on the same level as Khan.
However, having incredible hand speed isn’t necessarily a prerequisite to beating Khan, as we learned in his 1st round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in September 2008. Prescott, a fighter with only average hand speed, was able to hurt Khan with a simple jab. Prescott than exploded a couple big hooks, knocking Khan down twice and beating him by a 1st round knockout. Malignaggi is clearly a faster puncher than Prescott, although not nearly as hard a puncher.
Khan hopefully isn’t getting things twisted thinking that hand speed isn’t the end all. Having great hand speed is helpful, but a fighter needs a lot more than that if he wants to become successful in boxing. A good chin and sound defense are equally important. Khan’s chin has been proven to be a major liability for him. It may not hinder him in this fight, because Malignaggi can’t really punch, but it could be a factor down the road when he’s forced to fight bigger punchers if he wants to hold onto his WBA title and become the big mega star that he’s longing to be.
Khan says “We’ve [talking about him and his trainer Freddie Roach] worked a lot on defense and not jumping in. The mistakes I’d make going forward was lunging in. As I’m going into an opponent, I would be jumping into a punch. That makes it a harder punch. Plus, I’m at a different weight. It’s helping me make the weight much easier. Earlier fights, I was too big, too muscular. Now we have more muscle in the legs.” Khan really wasn’t making a ton of mistakes in his fights other than trying to slug sometimes a bit too much for his own good. Roach has done a good job of curbing that and keeping Khan fighting in a more controlled manner and not taking nearly as many risks. He’s still going to have to have a good enough chin to take an occasional big shot every now and then, but like I said, Khan won’t have much to worry about in this fight because of Malignaggi’s nonexistent power.
Comments are closed.