By William Mackay: If you ask me what the number one thing that challenger Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) needs to do to pull off an upset against WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) in their fight on April 16th, I’d have to say it would be for him to punish the Brit with nonstop punches every time Khan attempts to clinch while in close.

McCloskey must keep his hands busy each time Khan starts to grab him on the inside. If you look at Marcos Maidana in his fight against Khan last December, he never let Khan get away with holding without pounding him in the gut or the side of the head. Khan literally had no rest from the heavy blows that Maidana was raining down on him.

Since a big part of Khan’s game now is clinching whenever his opponent gets in close, it’s imperative for McCloskey to make him stop doing that by continuing to pound him each time he gets grabbed. He can’t let Khan get way scots free with his cinching tactics. The same goes for when Khan grabs one of McCloskey’s arms and holds it.

McCloskey must use his free hand to pound the living daylights out of Khan until he lets go on his own. Hopefully, the referee doesn’t break the action when Khan is getting clubbed by McCloskey like he did in the Maidana fight.

The other part of Khan’s game, such as his pushing when his opponents get in close, has to be monitored by the referee. Khan can’t be allowed to shove McCloskey hard to keep him from fighting in close. If the referee doesn’t stop Khan from shoving McCloskey when he gets in close, then McCloskey’s trainer needs to make himself heard by complaining to the referee long and hard to have Khan penalized.