By Sean McDaniel: Why is WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) facing 38-year-old Joel Casamayor (37-4-1, 22 KO’s) rather than the much younger 29-year-old Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KO’s)? I mean I don’t understand that move at all unless Khan and Golden Boy Promotions, Khan’s promoters, are getting Casamayor on the cheap. Other than that, I don’t understand the logic of the move. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that Casamayor doesn’t hit as hard as Katsidis.
Casamayor was stopped in the 11th round by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2008, and the year before that, Casamayor won a controversial 12 round split decision against Jose Armando Santa Cruz in 2007. So basically if you count that fight as a loss for Casamayor, like I do, he’s lost two out of his last four fights going into the Khan fight.
That’s not exactly a top tier light welterweight if you ask me. Khan was supposed to finally start stepping it up after beating Paulie Malignaggi on May 15th, but it looks like we’re getting more of the same with Khan taking on another old guy. I would really like this fight if it took place in Casamayor’s prime in 2000, but not now that Casamayor is 10 years older, looking old and not fighting at the same level he did earlier in his career.
Maybe it’s me, but I see the Katsidis fight as the much more appealing fight for boxing fans. I’m sure that Khan will be able to sell out whatever venue that he puts the Casamayor fight in the UK, but it’s hardly fair to take on an old guy that will be 39-years-old by the time he fights Khan on July 31st. I think Khan’s handlers need to take off the training wheels already because if he’s not capable of taking on the best fighters in the light welterweight division, then he needs to vacate his WBA title and let the big boys fight for the belt.
I can just imagine what will happen once Khan finally does fight one of the top fighters in the division like Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander or Marcos Maidana. I see Khan being knocked out again. He needs to take on a slugger like Katsidis so that he can learn how to deal with power punchers, and fighters that pressure a lot. Khan could think of Katsidis as a warm-up for Maidana.
At least it would be a test to prove that Khan’s chin isn’t made out of glass like a lot of people think it is. If Khan gets knocked cold by Katsidis, then it wasn’t meant to be. But something tells me that Golden Boy didn’t want to risk Khan’s fragile chin against Katsidis and opted to instead put him in with the 39-year-old Casamayor. I think this is a terrible fight. You got to do better than to put Khan in with a nearly 40-year-old guy, don’t you? Casamayor is too short at 5’7”, too old at 39, too weak to beat Khan.
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