By William Mackay: If you look back in the past of Amir Khan (25-1, 17 Ko’s) you’ll notice that Khan completely overlooked opponents like Breidis Prescott and Marcos Maidana, talking beforehand like wins over them were a given and looking beyond both of them for future fights.
In the case Prescott, Khan was stopped in the 1st round. And with Maidana, Khan came close to being knocked out in the 10th and barely held on during the last three torturous rounds of the fight. Khan was literally hanging on during the last three rounds with both Maidana and the referee trying to pry Khan off.
Now Khan is doing the same thing by overlooking his next opponent IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah (41-6, 28 Ko’s) for their fight on July 23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. For some reason, Khan and his band of followers, believe this is going to be an easy fight for Khan, much easier than the Maidana fight.
Why they think this is odd, because Judah has always been a very tough opponent even when losing, and he rarely loses. Judah brings big power, excellent hand speed and incredible defensive skills to the ring with him in this fight. Technically, Judah is the better fighter by far. The only question is whether Khan’s youth, size advantage and slightly better hand speed will enable him to come out on top. I don’t know that it will, because Judah punches hard and is plenty fast. He’s going to land on Khan’s chin and with a weak chin like the one Khan has, the fight could be over at a moments notice.
Usually, Khan doesn’t face guys that can punch. Pretty much his entire career he’s been matched against soft hitting fighters. He’s had two fights against guys that can punch and his results were mixed. Prescott knocked him out and Maidana had Khan staggering all over the ring. And that was with Khan running the entire fight.
Khan didn’t stand in front of Maidana and trade with him. Khan ran for nine rounds, got staggered when he stopped running in the 10th, and then held in the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds to win a close decision. Those performances weren’t the kind that would give you the impression that Khan is good enough to look past anyone, much less a good fighter like Judah who can punch the daylights out of you if he connects.
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