By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) could have his grand plans of unifying the light welterweight titles dashed by his next opponent Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s), who Khan faces on 4/16 at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England.

Khan’s mind is endlessly racing ahead of him with dreams and hopes of winning titles in at welterweight and junior middleweight. It’s almost as if Khan has amnesia about how truly horrible he looked in the last three rounds of his recent fight against Marcos Maidana last December. Khan took one-sided punishment from the 10th round on and looked on the verge of being stopped in the 10th, and perhaps if not for the referee’s constant breaking up of the action while Khan was getting pounded against the ropes, we may be talking about a fight between Maidana and McCloskey, not Khan-McCloskey. Of course, Maidana probably wouldn’t waste his time fighting a little known fighter like McCloskey. Maidana would want to go after a big name.

In an interview at the BBC today, McCloskey said “I believe my style can beat anybody.”

Can McCloskey, who fights with his hands down much of the time, beat a fighter like Khan? McCloskey says he’s been watching a lot of video of Khan’s last three fights, studying him carefully. McCloskey has perhaps seen the flaws in Khan’s game that I’ve seen. Khan runs around the ring, jabbing and stopping every once in a while to throw three-punch combinations. Khan is very predictable the way he fights now compared to before. In the past, Khan seemed to be a better fighter, but his trainer Freddie Roach has turned Khan into a runner since taking charge of his training in 2009.

Khan has faced a number of mostly limited fighters or ones that were way over the hill by the time he fought them. McCloskey only has to time Khan for when he stops running and looks to throw one of his three punch combos. That’s how McCloskey can beat the 24-year-old Khan and wreck his wild dreams of winning titles in the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions.