By Jordan Sargent: The announcement of Word Boxing Association Light Welterweight Champion Amir Khan’s (24-1, 17 KO’s) next opponent was an up and down affair full of speculation. There was talk of many fighters, but the Khan camp finally made a deal with current EBU Light Welterweight holder Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) for the 16th of April.
As expected, it did not take long for the criticism to flow. But the question has to be asked, would khan had avoided the ensuing criticism if he had chosen someone else? The answer is quite obviously no. Ever since Khan’s first round knockout loss to Colombian Breidis Prescott (23-2, 19 KO’s) it is the critic’s first instinct to look at the opponents knockout ratio rather than any other attribute. In other words, unless a fighter is a knockout artist Amir Khan should not fight him. This is a diluted way to look at matchmaking.
When comparing some potential opponents, it can be seen McCloskey is credible:
Junior Witter (37-3-2, 22 KO‘s) does have more knockouts than McCloskey, but Witter is 36 and has been inactive since August 2009. Witter is the bigger name but does that mean he deserves a shot at a world title?
Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KO’s) recently fought to a controversial draw with Victor Ortiz after climbing off the canvas twice, so does he deserve a shot at a world title from that result?
Breidis Prescott has shown that he has the power to beat Khan but since that faithful night has been beaten twice himself. However, he has regained some form by winning his last two. It would be great to see Khan in the ring with Prescott again, but in my opinion McCloskey should not be discredited.
Even though McCloskey’s record is not full of knockouts, he is the man with the form. I am a believer in the “best” fighting the “best” however just because someone is a bigger name or has more knockouts does not mean he is the “best” potential opponent. McCloskey is unbeaten in 22 and has stopped the last 4 opponents aswell as showing growing maturity in his punching power. If a fighter should be judged on one thing and one thing alone it should be his form. As the holder of the EBU title, McCloskey’s next move is a world title fight and I believe with the recent run, morally he deserves a shot. Khan will obviously step through the ropes as clear favourite and rightly so, but would it have been any different if the other available potential opponents have been chosen?
This fight has presented itself as a warm up for Khan before attempting to unify the division, so the camp was never going to chose a P4P beater. However, McCloskey has beaten who he has had to and I believe Khan has done nothing wrong by giving an undefeated, hungry European Champion a shot at the big time.
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