By Scott Gilfoid: Without even having proven that he’s the best fighter at light welterweight, World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) is talking about moving up in weight to compete at welterweight and fight the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year. Khan points to his 5’10” frame, saying that he has the size to compete against welterweights and be a factor in that division. I think if Khan does that he’s going to have his backside handed to him almost immediately.

I’ve seen Khan’s recent fight with Marcos Maidana several times already, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Khan simply doesn’t have a good enough chin and good stamina to fight among the elites in the light welterweight and especially the welterweight class. Yes, I know Khan technically defeated Maidana last weekend but I saw the fight as a draw and think that Maidana would have knocked Khan out had referee Joe Cortez stayed back and let him fight without pulling Maidana off of him when Maidana was clubbing Khan with huge right hands on the inside in the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds.

Khan seems to have to work too hard to keep from getting hit. All that movement that Khan was forced to do in order to keep from standing in front of Maidana and quickly getting knocked out drained Khan to the point where he had nothing left in the 10th round and couldn’t as well to avoid shots. Since this is Khan at his best at 24, I can’t see his stamina getting any better in the future. If anything, Khan’s stamina will get worse to the point where he’ll get exhausted running around the ring for more three rounds at a time.

Last Saturday night, Khan ran around the ring for 12 rounds to keep from getting knocked out. This wasn’t something he wanted to do. This was something Khan was forced to do to keep from getting knocked out. Since Khan doesn’t have a good chin, he has to work incredibly hard by moving all the time to keep from getting blasted out. As we saw, Khan can run for nine rounds but he doesn’t have the stamina to run for the entire fight. This won’t change, and I see him getting even more fatigued in the future as he gets older and moves up in weight. Khan’s chin is going to stay weak and that’s going to be hid downfall.

If you think Maidana punches hard, wait until you see Khan having to fight welterweights like Saul Alvarez, Mike Jones, Randall Bailey and Andre Berto. I guess Khan’s management and steer him around those guys for awhile but sooner or later Khan will be in with a good puncher at welterweight and he’ll be forced to work hard and run around the ring like he did against Maidana last weekend. And I don’t see Khan being able to run long enough without running out of gas and getting knocked cold by one of these guys. It won’t take a really good fighter to knock Khan out at welterweight. Anyone in the upper levels of the division will be an immediate threat to take Khan out because of his glass jaw.