Amir Khan V Marcos Maidana what's next for King Khan
More than 20 years ago, New York natives Public Enemy warned people to “don’t believe the hype.” Brooklyn native Paulie Malignaggi had similar words about his opponent Amir Khan heading into their clash for Khan’s WBA light welterweight title. Malignaggi had continually ripped Khan in the press leading up to the fight, contending that Khan had built his reputation on soft opponents in Europe and that he was an overhyped fighter ready for a big fall. A war of words developed that spilled into a confrontation between the two and their supporters at the weigh-in for the fight.
If Malignaggi wasn’t a believer in Khan’s talents heading into the fight, he definitely changed his tune after it was over. Khan dominated Malignaggi from the opening bell, beating the former world champion to the punch again with a sharp jab and potent follow-up shots. The net result with an 11th round TKO victory for Khan that left Malignaggi stating that he simply “couldn’t keep up” with the younger, fresher Khan and contemplating retirement.
So was it a dominating, breakout performance by Khan or simply a matter of Malignaggi not having it anymore? The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle. While Khan was very good and showcased all of his talents, he couldn’t put away a very tired and vulnerable Malignaggi despite his touted one-pjunch knockout power. The end came not from one punch but the accumulation of damage that Malignaggi had inflicted throughout the fight. Referee Steve Smoger jumped in to stop the fight after one particularly rough exchange early in the 11th round after Malignaggi absorbed several big blows. Although he wasn’t in imminent danger of getting knocked out, Malignaggi clearly was just going to take more punches and Smoger’s stoppage was the right call.
But even if he couldn’t deliver the highlight reel knockdown that would have immediately stamped Khan as a major star in America, it’s hard to argue with the results of the fight. Many unofficial scorecards had Khan winning every round as he was able to essentially do what he wanted with a game but overmatched Malignaggi. Essentially, Khan was bigger, more powerful, had a better jab and defense than Malignaggi and possessed hands at least as fast as his opponent – which was Malignaggi’s strength. Any way you looked at the fight, it was complete domination by Khan.
In fact, it’s not too cynical to suggest (as HBO analyst Max Kellerman did) that the fight was more a triumph of expert matchmaking on behalf of Khan by his trainer Freddie Roach and his promotional team than anything else. The big question mark about Khan has been his chin – Khan had seen his career temporarily derailed in September 2008 when he suffered a vicious first round knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott after being stunned in several previous fights. Despite having some of the quickest hands in boxing and excellent ring savvy, Malignaggi is far from a power puncher – with just five KOs in his career, he’s probably the weakest-hitting “elite” fighter of his generation. Fighting Malignaggi posed little threat to expose Khan to a knockout loss, and he did little to change his reputation as having a suspect chin with his victory.
While Malignaggi left the ring talking about how he might not have it anymore (which might be the case considering his lack of movement or sustained flurries of action during the fight), Khan now has to contemplate his next steps on his path to superstardom. In his post-fight interview, he said that he wants to unify the light welterweight title before moving up in weight, taking on champions Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley along the way. However, the immediate next step appears to be a return to the UK in the summer for a tune-up before taking on Marcos Maidana, a dangerous knockout specialist who will surely test Khan in ways that Malignaggi was not capable of doing.
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