By William Mackay: WBA Super World light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) thinks his hand picked opponent Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) is going to be out of his depth when he faces him next month on April 16th at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England. Khan, 24, sees McCloskey’s total lack of experience against world class fighters being a problem for him in this bout. You think? Of course it will be, but that begs the question:

Why did Khan pick a guy to fight that has never fought anyone outside of the European/British level 2nd tier opponents? McCloskey is ranked #5 by the WBA, but then again the WBA had the completely inexperienced Dimitri Salita #1 in 2009 when Khan fought him. This seems to be another example of the WBA giving an inflated ranking to someone without the experience to deserve it.

Khan could have chosen a more experienced opponent like Breidis Prescott or Lamont Peterson to fight but instead preferred McCloskey for some reason. Your guess is as good as mine why Khan wanted a guy with no prior fights against upper tier fighters rather than someone that’s been there before.

Speaking with Sky Sports News, Khan said “I think it is a big step up for him. European level is a little bit different than world level. I think he is going to find it quite different. We are up there at the elite level in world boxing…It’s a big opportunity to show how good I am.”

Yes, McCloskey will make Khan look good, but then again when you pick out lesser fighters, you’re going to look good in beating them most of the time. Why didn’t Khan pick out Prescott or Peterson? Didn’t he think he would look good against them? It makes you wonder if Khan is cherry picking opponents just to try and look good.