By Anthony Starkson: World Boxing Association (WBA) light-welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan is getting ready to defend his title against the hard hitting Argentinean Marcos “El Chino” Maidana on December 11th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Numerous “writers” on this site have written off Khan like he’s coming into this fight as Eddie Richardson and Maidana appears as Mike Tyson. They act like Khan is going to do nothing except run around the ring like a track star, without throwing any punches, with his hands down at his sides and take a brutal beating until he is knocked unconscious. They try to give the illusion that Khan won’t be able to land significant shots on a one dimensional, come forward, raw fighter like Maidana. My message to them is (you know who you are): Get out of your fantasy and into reality, though you might not like it.

First of all, this fight has to be analyzed without bias, and that mostly hasn’t been done on this fight (or any of the other meaningful fights). First of all, we have to take in the strengths of both fighters, and their trainers. Marcos Maidana, as most boxing fans know, is a hard hitting rugged fighter with tremendous heart and an above average chin. He was knocked down three times before forcing the talented prospect, Victor Ortiz, to fall into submission. He is trained by Miguel Diaz, the former trainer of Miguel Cotto.

Amir Khan, on the other hand, has extraordinary boxing skills, but an ordinary chin. He is known to have a powerful and lightening fast jab, and is known for his overall speed, both in his hands and his movement. He was knocked out by Briedis Prescott in September of 2008, and as with all fighters that get knocked out, there are numerous questions about his ability to take a heavy shot to the chin. He is trained by 4-time trainer of the year, Freddie Roach, who has trained at least 25 world champions. He has a notable win over the fast-talking, faster boxing Paulie Malignaggi, whom he received a technical knockout in the 11th round.

In terms of sparring, I see it very hard for Maidana to find a guy with Khan’s speed, movement, reach, height, and temperament to spar with. On the other hand, Khan is in the best gym, the Wildcard, and arguably with the best trainer in the world. He can easily spar with welterweights or possibly even junior middleweights that have a similar, rugged, power-punching style similar to Maidana’s. He also has a great conditioning coach in Alex Ariza, who also gets pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao in shape.

As for the fight, I really can’t see Khan taking his leash off and trading shots with Maidana. Freddie Roach would probably have made a great game-plan to pretty much ensure Khan of a victory, whether it be a technical knockout or a unanimous decision victory. The x-factor, in my opinion, will become Maidana’s conditioning. In his last fight against DeMarcus Corley, Maidana looked extremely fatigued from round nine till the end of the fight. Maidana fans (or Khan haters) argue that he didn’t take the fight seriously, which is why he looked so sluggish, but many see it a different way. Maidana also has been prone to falling on the canvas against quicker fighters, namely Victor Ortiz, and we all know Khan’s speed is levels ahead of Ortiz. On top of that, Maidana has a big heart, and a big heart plus a sometimes questionable chin can lead to dangerous and disappointing outcomes.

My prediction: Khan will consistently land two to three punch combinations on the face of Maidana, but also move brilliantly and avoid the majority of the big shots until the notoriously tired Maidana gets stopped in the tenth round.

Winner: Khan by round 10 TKO.