By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (25-1, 17 KO’s) is promising that his July 23rd fight against IBF light welterweight champ Zab Judah (41-6, 28 KO’s) is going to be a war from the 1st round until the 12th and that he’s not going to back off from him. Khan-Judah are fighting at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada in what amounts to be a toss up fight. Although Khan is favored to win, it’s still a pretty even match that’s really hard to predict the winner.

In an interview at Primetime, Khan said “It’s going to be a war regardless. Me and Zab are going to go at it. Even if it finishes in the 1dt round or the 12th round, it’s going to be a war from the 1st bell. I’m not going to take a step back and I hope Zab Judah doesn’t take a step back. If he wants to fight I’m here to fight.”

Khan hasn’t anyone of a serious threat since he was nearly knocked out by Marcos Maidana in December. In his last fight, Khan had a weak puncher in Paul McCloskey, which allowed Khan to trade more than he usually does. However, if Khan goes right at the hard hitting Judah the way that Khan did against McCloskey and Paulie Malignaggi, we may see a repeat of Khan’s 1st round knockout loss to Bredis Prescott. Judah punches hard enough to take Khan out, and with Judah’s speed, timing and counter punching ability, he’s going to have ample opportunities to knock Khan out if he goes right at Judah from the 1st round.

I would be surprised if Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach were to allow Khan to attack Judah immediately knowing that is when Judah is at his best. Roach is usually a very careful trainer and only has his fighters attack when he sees the opponent weakening or if it’s already a huge mismatch to begin with. This isn’t a mismatch and Judah may not weaken until well into the 2nd half of the fight. It’s doubtful that Khan is disciplined enough to hold off from attacking Judah until then and he’ll have problems if he does because of Judah’s southpaw stance and arguably better boxing skills.