By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) was destroyed in one round the last time he faced a fighter with any kind of power two years ago when he was blasted out by the skinny 5’11” Breidis Prescott in 2008. Now, two years later, Khan is finally being put in with another fighter with big power in Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) in a 12 round bout at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It seems like there has been a case of collective amnesia about Khan’s past when it comes to his knockout loss to Prescott, and his other additional knockdowns against light punchers.

Khan’s many supporters are sold on him based on his speed and wins over five weak punchers in Oisin Fagan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Andriy Kotelnik, Dmitri Salita and Paulie Malignaggi. This reminds me a lot of the brief success that the weak chinned Enzo Maccarinelli had after being knocked out by David Haye, Ola Afolabi and Denis Lebedev. Maccarinelli was able to get three straight 1st round knockouts following the three knockout defeats.

Before you know it, fans were coming out of the woodwork to pronounce that Maccarinelli was back and ready to win another cruiserweight title. Those dreams went down the drain Maccarinelli was finally put in with another big puncher in Alexander Frenkel on September 18th. Maccarinelli was then once again knocked out and badly hurt in that fight. As you can see, his chin hadn’t gotten better. It was his weak opposition that had briefly disguised his problems with big punchers. I see the same thing happening with Khan.

He’s done well through good match making against weak punchers, but now he’s being forced to fight another big puncher after two years. Khan no longer has any choice but to fight Maidana or risk getting his WBA title stripped from him. I expect Khan to be drilled into the canvas just as he was against Prescott. It may not happen in the 1st round, because his trainer Freddie Roach will have Khan running instead of engaging with Maidana. However, Maidana is going to catch up to Khan none the less and knock him out just as he was against Prescott. Khan’s weak chin will be his downfall, as he won’t be able to run enough to avoid getting tagged by Maidana and knocked out.

I’m wondering if Khan can still become a star if he’s knocked out by Maidana? Will his promotional company be able to maneuver Khan for two or three more years to avoid him getting knocked out again? I can’t see him becoming a star if he’s knocked out a third time.