By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) has a sturdy chin, as he proved in his fight against knockout artist Victor Ortiz last year when he stopped the highly hyped Golden Boy Promotions star in the 6th round in a major upset in June 2009. WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) will be facing Maidana on December 11th, in a fight that will show whether Khan is really as good as his trainer Freddie Roach seems to think he is or if he’s just another one of Roach’s failed hopes.
Khan seems to think he’s not only going to beat Maidana but is going to totally dominate and stop him in the process of getting the win. Speaking to the Dailymail.co.uk, Khan says “At the moment, I would be just Floyd’s [Mayweather Jr.] opponent. First, I will deal with Maidana – I believe I’ll be the first to knock him out but I don’t care if it goes the distance and then unify the title by stopping the winner of Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander. Do that and then, towards the end of next year, I can go in against Mayweather in my prime, in a 50-50 fight.”
Gosh, Khan sounds like he’s really got it all figured out. Given that this is Khan’s first real test since he was wiped out by Breidis Prescott in the 1st round in 2008, I think Khan really shouldn’t count his chicks before they’ve hatched. The guy may not get past Maidana, and for him to knock Maidana out, he’s going to have to take some major shots. Do I think Khan can take those shots? Nope. I don’t think Khan has the chin for it, and it doesn’t matter much how Roach thinks he’s the next Manny Pacquiao.
If Khan can’t take a hard shot without kissing the canvas, then he won’t be worthy of fights against Alexander, Bradley and Mayweather. Khan really needs to have a backup plan to use if he gets knocked out by Maidana. Instead of talking about Mayweather, Bradley and Alexander, Khan needs to focus on where he can go if he gets knocked out quickly by Maidana. My guess is Khan will go back to facing light punchers like the ones he’s fought since being knocked out by Prescott. He’ll take it easy for a year or two before stepping up and facing Alexander or Bradley.
I don’t think Khan will be ready then either. He needs major improvements on his defense. I can see Khan succeeding if he turns into exclusively a jab, run and hold type fighter, but if he focuses on throwing any power shots against good fighters like Maidana, Alexander, Bradley or Mayweather, Khan will get knocked out every time. He’s like a small version of Wladimir Klitschko without the size or the big time power to dominate in his division like Klitschko has done.
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