By Jon Neale: For over 2 years every time Amir Khan is due to fight someone the inevitable outcry regardless of who the opponent is, is that Khan has one major weakness and that of course is his inability to take a punch. In just over a weeks’ time Khan will step into the squared circle to face Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas. Surprising though it is given that his opponent is the hard hitting Marcos Maidana, the journalistic masses are once again banging on the ‘Glass Jaw’ drum, to a point where, by Fight Night, it will be at fever pitch!

I would like to explain, if you care to listen, how many may be shocked and surprised by the way Khan takes Maidana’s punches and ultimately wins the bout with relative ease…

Let us dissect and examine the route of this almost universal opinion… The infamous Breidis Prescot knock out. Firstly, Khan was campaigning at Lightweight which, considering his size was a division that perhaps drained him too much before a fight. Secondly, after firing Oliver Harrison, Team Khan decided to employ the services of Cuban trainer Jorge Rubio, a man with excellent pedigree but never the less a surprising choice given the very different training styles/methods of Harrison and Rubio. And thirdly, after winning and dominating smaller (natural) lightweights who were considerably less talented than Khan prior to the Prescott match up, Khan I believe, was over confident of his ability and maturity, a fact that I attribute at least to some degree with the British Media. For whenever a new potential sporting hero emerges in the UK, the Media invariably attaches itself to him/her and time and time again we see the pressures and expectation end in disappointment.

Ultimately, had Khan been knocked out in the 3rd, 4th, 5th or any other round after having warmed up and eased himself into the fight I would be considerably more worried about his chin. What actually happened was that Khan got caught cold, ran out of his corner, threw a few ‘range-finders’ and then almost jumped into an oncoming Bomb that Prescott had unleashed. As subsequent fights have proven (see Kevin Mitchell’s win against Prescott) Prescott is physically strong, can punch hard, but has poor boxing skills. The punch that initially landed on Khan was a great shot, but it certainly wasn’t cerebral in its creation and delivery. It was a Haymaker in the truest sense of the word! A wild speculative bomb unleashed in the same manner as a number of bombs seconds before it and in every fight that Prescott has been in.

Prior to teaming up with Freddie Roach, Khan was an unconventional Boxer who threw punches from wild angles constantly causing himself to lose balance and shape. Simple Physics dictates that if one object is traveling towards a target the impact of that object is considerably less than if two objects are traveling towards one another and collide (see Prescott’s fist and Khan’s Jaw!). I am of the belief that had any boxer in the division been on the end of that punch having lunged into as Khan did, he too would have been KO’d. So, now that Khan has learnt this valuable lesson, learnt how to fight behind a guard, punch from a stable position, improve his footwork, RESPECT the man he is fighting, LISTEN to his trainer and FOLLOW a game plan… should we write him off as glass jawed? I don’t think so. Since moving up in weight and joining Freddie Roach Khan has not been rocked or wobbled by any of the fighters he has so far met. Admittedly they have not been big hitters like the upcoming Maidana, but I for one believe Khan is the real deal and will further prove his caliber and ability on the 11th December. Keep your eye out for some Pacquiao-esque combinations from Khan.

Khan stoppage TKO 8.