By Scott Gilfoid: After two years of being kept away from fighters with any kind of power, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) will finally be put in with a fighter with power when faces the biggest puncher in the light welterweight division in WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) on December 11th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although many of Khan’s loyal British fans are picking Khan to easily beat Maidana, I see this as a total blowout victory for Maidana.
This is going to be one of those Haye-Harrison type fights where Khan falls to pieces immediately at the sight of Maidana’s huge power shots and ends up too terrified to let his hands go for fear of getting tagged by one of Maidana’s sledgehammer shots to the head. I picture Khan putting in an epic Harrison-esque fight in which Khan freezes and then gets blasted out once Maidana cranks up his offense. Before that, I see Khan running around the ring like a track star trying to avoid getting his chin checked by Maidana.
As you saw with Harrison, he was afraid to trust his chin in a stand up fight with Haye. I expect the same from Khan. He won’t want to get his tender chin tagged by Maidana to keep from getting exposed badly in front of the entire civilized world. Instead of actually fighting Maidana, Khan will run around the ring in wide circles, half-heartedly trying to jab but jabbing short of the mark to keep from getting hit by Maidana’s right hands and left hooks.
This pattern will continue round after round until Maidana finally intercepts Khan in one of his wide circles and connects with a huge right hand that will stop Khan in his tracks and send him folding over backwards like an accordion. Khan will stagger to his feet, looking around like a drunk while teetering back and forth. The referee will allow the fight to continue and Maidana will immediately rush in and connect with a big right hand that will distort Khan’s jaw and send him falling back first to the canvas where he’ll hit with a thud. The fight will then be stopped because Khan will be completely out cold. The television analysts and fans at home will say that they figured this would happen, because Khan has been knocked out in the 1st round the last time he fought a fighter with good power in Breidis Prescott in 2008. Now after fighting a series of light punching opponent, Khan was finally exposed again when put in with a fighter that can punch.
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