By Nabil Anwer: Oscar De La Hoya said, “Amir proved not only that he has a good chin but that he’s the best 140-pounder in the world, no doubt about it.” And I think he’s right.

After Khan came out victorious in a fight of the year contender over Maidana, he has proven that he has more than just a good chin, but a granite one (Okay, that might be a tad hyperbolic. But consider this, if Maidana can’t knock out Khan at 140, who can?). We already know Khan possesses almost every other characteristic required for an enduring champion and now he has proven he has the missing piece.

In fact, Khan’s resistance to Maidana’s onslaught prompted Maidana’s trainer Miguel Diaz, to accuse opposing trainer, Alex Ariza, of cheating. To put Maidana’s KO power in perspective; he has a knockout rate higher than 90%, and 90% of these knockouts have come within the first two rounds. These are unprecedented stats. And they only highlight how extraordinary it is that Khan wasn’t dropped even once. Presumably, the cheating is in reference to performance enhancing drugs. However, Khan has never failed a drugs test, or even been the subject of any investigations in any form, thus, one can only label these accusations as baseless and a product of jealousy. The resentment isn’t surprising considering the massive disparity in earnings between the two, with Khan more than tripling Maidana’s earnings for the same fight.

This loss also may be devastating to Maidana. Not because he was hurt, but because this loss will be the excuse the top fighters in the division will use to avoid Maidana. And I think Maidana knows this, because when asked if he’d like a rematch with Khan, he meekly responded, “ I’ll fight whoever.” I’d love to see some more top quality opposition for Maidana, but I’m skeptical he’ll receive it. I think the obvious route would be a rematch between Maidana and Victor Ortiz. Although, I suspect Ortiz will not be interested in making this happen. He certainly deserves the loser of Bradley – Alexander, but boxing doesn’t always reward merit. But it would be interesting to see if Maidana could move up in weight.

We know Khan has every chance to dominate at his current weight class of 140. Especially since he is more physically gifted than any other fighter in the division, and also has the scope to improve tremendously. But I’m not sure going up to 147 is the right move. Right now his biggest threat is Timothy Bradley. However, Timothy Bradley is one of the most feather fisted fighters in the division. But he is also very likely the best fighter in the division, although, Khan may prove otherwise. Bradley simply does not possess the one characteristic required to beat Khan, power. Bradley has stopped a very small portion of his victims. Khan, on the other hand has an impressive knock out rate. With Khans speed, reach and power, he has a very good chance of taking down Bradley. But if and when he accomplishes this, I’m not sure he should move to 147 to supposedly take on the likes of Mayweather.

Realistically, we know Mayweather is not going to fight some strong fast kid with the same reach as him. I do believe Mayweather would defeat Khan, but that doesn’t change the fact Mayweather hasn’t been prone to taking risks in a very long time. Although, I do not begrudge Khan for aiming high, as virtually every fighter in Mayweather’s stratosphere is desperate for a fight with the cash king. Although, Khan is quite the draw himself, and his earnings fall in the millions while other talented fighters only make a fraction of what Khan is able to earn. For some reason Khan has captured people’s attention, whether its awe, bitter jealously, or even irrational hatred, Khan is a fighter people constantly write about. But nothing beats a fight with Mayweather, even Pacquiao falls short. But, as previously mentioned, this is unlikely to happen for a number of reasons.

So, I have to question what Khan has to gain by moving up in weight. He’ll have added weight to further improve his chin, but obviously this is offset with bigger punchers. He’ll only deteriorate his precious reach advantage to some extent. Yet if his speed remains Khan would be considered even faster, relative to the other fighters at 147. There’s no doubt Timothy Bradley is never going to move up in weight, because he knows he’d get knocked out very quickly. It’s good to know one’s limitations. Although, Bradley is already at his peak, while Khan is most likely going to vastly improve. So I will not write Khans 147 aspirations off, potentially he could be very successful at this weight division, but it will be tougher.

I personally think Khan is being rushed. He is still a little green and has only just turned 24, we know he is still going to improve tremendously. One only has to see the constant progress of Pacquiao to realise Khan’s scope of improvement is vast. I think he should be a little protective for a couple more years, after which point he’ll be closer to his prime. If a fighter like Kell Brook wants to fight Khan, make Brook come down to 140 to fight. These fighters are desperate for Khan because they know he’s the draw, he’s the one people want to see fight.

Khan’s next fight should be a fairly easy one, however, Lamount Peterson did give Timothy Bradley a few genuine scares in arguably the toughest fight of his career. He also recently drew with the underachieving Victor Ortiz.