By Scott Gilfoid: Out of all the potential fighters that could have been matched against Amir Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) for his fight this Saturday night, Devon Alexander (26-2, 14 KOs), a fighter known for not having much in the way of punching power was selected to face him in their fight on Showtime.
The big question is was Alexander, 27, specifically selected to face Khan due to his lack of power or was this just a case of Khan’s promoters at Golden Boy accidentally picking out a guy with a low knockout percentage.
In a sign of his lack of power, Alexander has knocked out only one opponent in the past four years since 2010, and that was against a 2nd tier fighter named Lee Purdy. Alexander has only one knockout in his last eight fights, and that obviously is a sign that he’s not a real puncher or anything close to being a puncher.
Given Khan’s history of struggling when matched against fighters with power, it makes you wonder if Golden Boy Promotions and Khan’s adviser Al Haymon specifically selected Alexander as Khan’s opponent for Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada due to Alexander not being as much of a threat to Khan on paper compared to other fighters in the welterweight division like Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Marcos Maidana or Luis Carlos Abregu. I mean, was it just an accident that Alexander was picked rather than someone that can punch or was it a strategic move on Khan’s handler’s part in picking out a non-puncher to face him? It makes me wonder.
As soon as I heard that Alexander was picked to face Khan, I immediately saw it as a situation where Khan was being matched against someone who isn’t a dangerous threat to beating him like some of the aforementioned fighters.
Obviously, Golden Boy wants to see Khan move forward with his career to get a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2015. What better way to ensure that happens by matching him against a non-puncher like Alexander?
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