By Simon Hirst: The bell of the 12th round sounds as a swollen face of Amir Khan throws his last punch of a flurry to win his fight with the tough, robust powerhouse Marcos Maidana. His arms raise above his head aware that he had lasted, perhaps more accurately described as survived, twelve rounds with the man whom everybody recognises as the biggest puncher at this weight.

Of course, not all critics are convinced and who can blame them after that huge tenth round in which Khan had to survive almost the entire round on shaky legs. Any judge who didn’t give that 10-8 would find it hard to show another round that clearly described how one-sided that round was. It was a career-defining round. It proved a few things:

One- Khan has a chin. Sure, his legs buckled, but the onslaught after would have put many men down. Look at other fighters who have been stopped. They have been stopped on less powerful punches; this was a full-bloodied punch that Khan didn’t see coming and often the punches you don’t see coming are worse than those that are harder that you see because you cannot prepare for them. Khan took that AND a full onslaught after that and survived.

Two- That Maidana is the most vicious power puncher in the division. Not the most acute boxer, but his time will come. He has two much power not to be considered world class. You don’t see many people with the kind of power he has. He made an unbeaten Victor Ortiz quit, stopped the unbeaten Victor Cayo and certainly gave Khan a run for his title.

Three- Khan struggles to fight those who pressure and stalk him. Maidana was almost beat in round one when Khan landed a body shot that had Maidana wincing in agony. Had this have landed in the first minute, perhaps even the second minute of the round, I would daresay Khan would have stopped Maidana. It goes to show how punches change fights and if it had have been stopped, Khan would be declared the number one fighter of his division with no questions. As it happens, Maidana survived and stalked Khan, took his punches and the constant stalking wore down Khan, creating opportunities for him to be hit. It is hard to beat Khan because his flashy combinations score points and look good, but if he can be wore down or drawn into a war, it certainly bodes well for the other fighter.

Moving on from what has now been awarded ‘The 2010 Fight of the Year’ by America’s boxing writers, Khan has several options ahead of him. Some of these fighters have drawn criticism from fans, suggesting Khan should be looking at the Alexander- Bradley fight. Of course, I would love to see that fight and believe Khan would have an excellent chance against either of them. However, Khan has often said he wants Mayweather by the end of the year and whilst it is good to be optimistic, I wonder whether fighters are developed too fast for their own good.

In being fast tracked to superstardom, Khan has missed fights that would have given him vital experience when it comes to fighting top fighters. There are many fights that should have happened with Khan that hasn’t. How about that grudge match from the amateurs between Khan and Ortiz? Ortiz has a good blend of speed and power, which would give Khan a few problems. How about Mancunian John Murray? Murray is tough and rugged, it was a fight that everybody wanted, but never got made. Katsidis is another warrior who has been overlooked. Katsidis is a fighter who only loses to the very best with his three losses coming against Joel Casamayor, Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.

It has emerged that Khan is now fighting Paul McCloskey, an unbeaten Irish fighter. Of course people will criticise this choice as McCloskey is not very well known worldwide and after such a high profile fight, it will be seen as something of a step backwards.

Unfortunately, this fight is the right fight, wrong time as this fight should have been made when Khan was coming up the ranks, perhaps around the time a certain Breidis Prescott was selected as an opponent.

In reflection, McCloskey has done very little in deserving this fight and you could easily make the argument that there are much harder, more deserving challenges for Khan. However, if the fight gets made, McCloskey will need to use this as his platform regardless of how well he does.

I like the idea of Khan slowing his career down, not bypassing opponents who would give him a good test. Sure, all fighters have their weaknesses and strengths, no fighter is exempt from this and everyone has their own impressions of how different fights would go if the fighters met.

The best thing Amir Khan could do is chase the fight with Bradley-Alexander, not price himself out of it and then defend his title as number one fighter by taking on all comers. There are still some good fights for Khan such as Ortiz, Maidana rematch, Matthysse, Peterson, Marquez and who knows, a few more may be in that position when he has fought some of them.

Khan certainly is a talented fighter, superb hand speed, great footwork and decent chin. He has a good fan base in England and is building one in America. What he needs to do now is start building his legacy by beating the best ranked fighters in the world, which he can do because he really does have the world at his feet.