Amir Khan v Paulie Malignaggi
Amir Khan embarks on his pursuit of the Yankee dollar on Saturday night as he tries to woo the lucrative American audience by going to the Big Apple to make his stateside debut.
There he will be defending the WBA light-welterweight title against local boy Paulie Malignaggi.
It’s the biggest fight of Khan’s career to date and his first bout under Oscar Del la Hoya’s Golden Boy banner. The Englishman has shown the British public what he can do; now he’s taking his flashy hand speed on to the world stage. Although Malignaggi will be no walkover for the Bolton-born pugilist.
Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach is an expert match-maker, he likes to throw his fighters in with people that they stand a good chance of beating and in Malignaggi he has made a shrewd selection. There is one thing that defines “Magic Man’s” career, he can’t knock people out.
He fights off the back foot and swings from the hip in an ostentatious style that leaves him prone to taking shots to the jaw. With a record of 30-27-3 he has an impressive card, but when you see that he has only stopped five fighters in his whole career you see Roach’s logic. He’s like a Jack Russell with filled-down teeth.
The biggest question mark concerning Khan is his chin. Breidis Prescott made a mockery of it in under a minute in their battle and almost ended “The Pride of Bolton’s” career before it had begun. He has also been floored by Michael Gomez, Willie Limond and Rachid Drilzane, not exactly the crème de la crème of the boxing world.
He took some decent hits against Andreas Kotelnik when he won the WBA strap, but nothing more than would be expected at that level and the Khan-camp were quick go swerve KO master Marcos Maidana when a possible fight was mooted between the two.
What they may have underestimated is Malignaggi’s enormous heart. He has only failed to go the full 12 rounds once other than his five knockouts and anyone who saw him in his two wars with Juan Diaz will know that he is a true warrior. Also his emotional outpouring of anger after the second of those two bouts in which he felt Diaz got the hometown decision shows how much he cares about this sport.
He certainly has a mouth on him. Renowned for slagging off opponents he was on top form again in the press conference for this bout, pulling his best English slang out the bag. "I'm the best fighter Amir Khan has ever fought, bar none. I'm going to make sure this is a one and done deal for this poor bloke,"
He went on to say, “When I'm done with this guy, he'll never want to come to the US again, not even on holiday. It's a good thing he agreed to fight in New York rather than Vegas, this way he saved himself five extra hours of flight time agony thinking about the loss on his way back to England."
There’s no doubt he is entertaining and a real character in the boxing community. The wild-eyed Malignaggi once famously had to have his hair cut mid-fight as his long dreadlocks disrupted his vision and he is a real fan’s favourite in his native New York.
When it comes down to raw talent though Khans has the upper hand. He has phenomenally rapid mitts and must be on par with anyone out there in terms of speed, including Manny Pacquiao. Malignaggi is quick but Kahn can outdraw him and that will be a fundamental factor in deciding who will win this match-up. Under Roach Khan has made vast strides, he’s also added that knockout power and his card boasts an arresting 16 stoppages in his 23 bouts, also he is far more accurate than ever before, which when combined with pace and strength is a potent combination.
It’s hard to say what tactics we will see from the pair. It’s most likely that Khan will be the aggressor while Malignaggi fights off the back foot and try’s to build a lead by out-boxing the youngster. The two will probably spend a lot of time circling one another, things could get a bit cagey and there is the outside chance this match could become a bit static if Malignaggi is two wary of Khans lighting reactions. However as a couple of gunslingers it will be good to see them engage each other in the centre of the ring.
Malignaggi’s last fight against a British fighter ended in disaster as Ricky Hatton gave him a real beating and Khan will be well aware that The Magic Man struggled to conjure anything to deal with “The Hitman’s” aggression and so Khan may adopt a similar tactic.
Against Marco Antonio Barrera, Khan completely out-boxed the Mexican legend and a similar style would work well against Malignaggi, although this was a shell of the man who beat Prince Naseem Hamed back in 2001. Yet Khan is not a one trick pony, he showed his diversity in the next two fights taking a back seat against Andreas Kotelnik showing he can pick an opponent off and a devastating first round TKO against Dmitry Salita proved that he can bang.
He’ll probably go for a mixture of styles for this fight against Malignaggi, maybe sit back for a round or two see what sort of range Malignaggi is getting in his shots and adapt his game plan to suit that. If he lands his fast combinations with power there is no reason why he won’t leave the USA with the scalp of a local hero and a greatly enhanced reputation.
This could be the making of Khan and the outcome of this fight will help make clear the direction of his future. If he can overcome Malignaggi his confidence will be brimming. He has the potential to be a multi-weight champion and is arguably the most naturally gifted boxer that Britain has produced in years.
It’s going to be a huge night for Khan in New York. If he can make it there, he’ll make it anywhere.
Prediction: Khan ninth-12th round KO
It’s a battle of the slicksters. If Khan can land his shots with aplomb then he should be able to outgun Malignaggi and beat him at his own game. It won’t be as devastating as the Hatton victory but the Bolton youngster should KO Magic Man due to the vast volume of shots thrown in his direction. Expect Malignaggi to go down swinging though.
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