By Scott Gilfoid: A star was born last Saturday night when the talented Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KO’s) pounded WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) from pillor to post in the last three rounds of the fight but came up short on the judges’ scorecards, losing by a 12 round decision. Taking away the needless point deduction from Maidana for elbowing Joe Cortez, and all the breaks in the action that Cortez was doing when Maidana was trying to finish Khan off, I think Maidana would have won the fight last Saturday. Maidana looked like pure gold in that fight against a reluctant fighter. I know this is upsetting news for Khan’s British fans, because they actually think looked good for some reason. I guess love is blind.

I don’t know what happened to Khan, but for a fighter that came with his loving fans crowing about how great he is, Khan sure looked terrible to me. Aren’t great fighters supposed to dominate their opponents? I could be wrong but at least that’s what I think they’re supposed to do. I hate to break this to Khan’s loving fans but he’s not that good. At best, I see Khan as a decent contender but no way a champion.

But Maidana, he was the one that really shined in this fight. The way that he chased the rabbit-like Khan around the ring all night long, walking through Khan’s weak shots to plaster him with big punches to the head and body. And the way that Maidana fought through the constant breaks from referee Joe Cortez.

It was pure gold from Maidana. I don’t know too many fighters that would have been able to fight under those conditions and still look as brilliant as Maidana. At the end of the fight, Maidana was cheered loudly for a long time by the appreciative Mandalay Bay Resort fans at ringside, whereas Khan was loudly booed. You think that was an accident? The fans spoke telling you they felt was the better fighter and the one who should be given praise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Khan. Fighters that run around the ring like a timid rabbit all night long are never appreciated, and that’s why Khan isn’t the fighter that came out of this bout looking like a star. It was Maidana. Believe me, this loss won’t even make a dent on Maidana.

He’s even bigger now because of this and you can rest assured his fights will continue to be shown on HBO. And the reason is simple, because he’s a performer, a star. He doesn’t run around the ring like a scalded dog trying to avoid action. Maidana is pure class. I think it’s safe to say that Khan will never fight Maidana again after the beating he took from him last Saturday night. Maidana is the real deal and will move on to bigger things after this, whereas Khan will probably get knocked out in his next fight. And if they do match Khan against Floyd Mayweather Jr., that will be a knockout loss for Khan 100%.