By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) has been building up his record with wins over the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Oisin Fagan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Dmitri Salita and Andriy Kotelnik since being knocked out in the 1st round two years ago by Breidis Prescott.

It’s not surprising to see that all of Khan’s opponents since the Prescott loss have been weak punchers. That’s not to say that Barrera wasn’t a good puncher at one time, but that was at featherweight in the 120s, and not at 140 at 35-years-old.

On December 11th, Khan will be taking on perhaps the biggest puncher in the entire light welterweight division in Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Maidana has 27 knockouts out his record for one reason – the man can flat out punch. And if you put him in with a fighter with a weak chin, he’s that fighter’s worst nightmare. Khan and his supporters are under the impression that his speed advantage and his 1” inch height advantage will be too much for Maidana.

They believe that Khan will be able to run circles around the ring for the entire fight without him ever getting hit. God, I wish things were so easy. Khan has been hit in all of his fights since the Prescott fight, with the exception of his blowout of a badly overmatched Salita.

The difference is that Khan has been matched against powder puff punchers since the Prescott fight, and it’s got Khan and his boxing fan’s confidence way up in the stratosphere. However, Maidana is going to be bringing reality with him in the ring with him on December 11th in the form of his two powerful fists.

Maidana is going to show Khan and the boxing world what already know – that Khan’s chin hasn’t improved one iota since the Prescott loss and he’ll be stretched early against Maidana. You see when you have a fighter with the power and the ability to pressure his opponents like Maidana, it’s impossible to survive against him unless you have a steel chin like Kotelnik.

Khan doesn’t, and running around the ring all night long won’t help him one bit. Khan is going to get knocked out, and that’s just the way it is. Nothing has changed with Khan. He’s just been matched against weak punchers since the Prescott fight to boost his self-confidence while at the same time give boxing fans the impression that he’s improved.

How can you improve if you’re being put in with fighters that can’t punch and who are no threat? I’ve seen no improvement from Khan in the past five fights. What I’ve seen is very good match-making by having him put in with fighters that are no threat to him. Well, Maidana is and there really isn’t much of a chance that Khan will escape this fight without getting knocked out.