By Scott Gilfoid: If WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) is hoping to impress American fight fans by wiping out an over-matched opponent in Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 Ko’s) on Saturday night at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England, then I think Khan and his management are wasting their time. Americans don’t like mismatches. Sure, they like when a fighter blows out someone they respect and feel is a worthy opponent. But if the fight is considered a mismatch going in the door then it’s a complete waste of time in terms of making new fans in the U.S.

Look at the Klitschko brothers for example. HBO showed their fights for a number of years hoping they would catch on with the American public and build up a large fan base that would tune for the HBO broadcasts. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way because most of the Klitschko’s fights were hopeless mismatches that lacked any excitement. HBO is now hoping that Khan will be able to build up a large fan base and they’ve agreed to show Khan’s fight against McCloskey.

It seems that HBO has failed to learn their lesson about supporting fighters that set up mismatches going in the door. If HBO wants to look out for fans, they’ll say no to fighters that are matched against nobodies in easy tune-up fights the way that Khan is doing with McCloskey. This won’t make Khan a bigger star in the U.S because McCloskey looks hapless just looking at his fights. Who in their right mind is going to get excited about a fighter they’ve never even heard of? It’s a waste of time. Khan, if he wants to make it big in the U.S, he needs to stop being matched softly and start taking on tough opponents every time out inside of every once in awhile.