By Dan Ambrose: With a reputation for having a weak chin and a tendency to hit the deck when he’s hit hard, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) is saying that he’s going to come into this Saturday’s bout against the hard hitting Argentinian Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) as a puncher instead of as a pure boxer with blazing hand speed.

It seems illogical that Khan would want to be anything more than a safety-first boxer against a fighter like Maidana, because this will give Maidana a much better chance to score an easy knockout if Khan comes out slugging. Part of the problem is that Khan’s relatively new trainer Freddie Roach has been working on developing Khan’s power in his last couple of fights and has found mixed results.

Although Khan was able to stop #1 ranked WBA contender Dmitri Salita in December, it took 11 rounds for Khan to stop Paulie Malignaggi, a fighter with no power and who was previously stopped in the 11th by Ricky Hatton in 2008. You’d think that Khan, if he had any kind of real power, he’d have taken out Malignaggi a lot earlier than the 11th. As it was, Malignaggi was still on his feet and fighting back at the time that his fight with Khan was stopped, so it’s not like Khan stopped him with any kind of brutal punching.

In an article at the lasvegassun.com, Khan said “I really think in this fight I’ll be coming in a puncher. People are taking away from my power and saying that Maidana is the bigger puncher. It’s something I’ve been training.”

In this case, Khan may end up ignoring the probably advice from his trainer Freddie Roach to keep away from Maidana for as long as possible. If Khan does slug with Maidana, it’s going to make the fight much more interesting to watch for boxing fans but it will be dangerous for Khan because he’ll be getting tagged a lot by Maidana. Since the only real puncher that Khan has been in with, Breidis Prescott, blew him away in one round in 2008, there’s a real danger that Maidana will do the same if Khan punches with him. Khan has problems as it is even if he doesn’t. Maidana cuts off the ring well and will be really coming after him.