My feelings on last night, Khan, and Khans future.

[Check]

Okay, first off I'd like to tip my hat to both fighters. That fight was wonderful, a great fight indeed. My respect for both fighters really grew, especially for Amir Khan(except for his post game comments but I can understand his frustration). Anyways, last night I didn't really like the verdict but I can't complain that much about it. I felt Khan did enough, even with the point deductions to win but it was close. As for the point deduction, it was a bit odd but I'm never going to knock the ref for doing his job. What Khan was doing was illegal and a ref doesn't have to give warning after warning to stop. Khan didn't respect that ref and it paid dearly in the end for it. Either way great fight.

As for Amir, this was bound to happen though. At 140, he's a big dude and has always been the bully in there. Last night he wasn't the bully. Instead he was being bullied and had no answer but to push, headlock, and hold the charging Lamont Peterson. His footwork was once again sloppy and he was just way too frustrated to execute a good gameplan. I certainly wouldn't be deterred if I was him though. Although he got the L and lost his belt, he could of certainly won if a different ref would of deemed pushing a bit differently.

With that said I do believe that this shows that Khan isn't as gifted as he is thought to be. Sure, at 140 he still could be the man but that style and grit that Peterson applied would not be lost in a Bradley fight. Bradley isn't as strong but he certainly would attack the inside game, a game that Amir doesn't have. In back to back weeks we have seen two guys, Amir Khan and Antonio Margarito, when backed up they had no answer for up close fighting. Even if Amir does beat Bradley though(there are reasons why he might), it gives us insight on what a mistake moving to 147 would truly be. Khan fills out but at 147 he certainly wouldn't be bullying many. I truly believe Khan is the type of guy that may be big but he isn't really that strong of a guy but has been able to do it because he is much bigger at 140. At 147 it would even out and that wouldn't be an advantage.

Agreed? How did you guys feel about everything that went down last night?

[GG Magic]

Agree with most of these sentiments.

But I think Khan's lack of inside game was what really cost him this fight, and its his biggest weakness, especially if he were to move up to 147. I'm so disappointed that he fought so poorly going backwards and on the inside, when there were hints that he improved in this area in training specifically for this fight.

I think Khan can still be a great fighter, though. He was breath taking at times on the outside. He MUST learn to fight on the inside, since as you said, he can't bully all of his opponents by sheer size and strength all the time.

[Check]

Originally Posted by GG Magic

Agree with most of these sentiments.

But I think Khan's lack of inside game was what really cost him this fight, and its his biggest weakness, especially if he were to move up to 147. I'm so disappointed that he fought so poorly going backwards and on the inside, when there were hints that he improved in this area in training specifically for this fight.

I think Khan can still be a great fighter, though. He was breath taking at times on the outside. He MUST learn to fight on the inside, since as you said, he can't bully all of his opponents by sheer size and strength all the time.

Another thing that is king of alarming is Khans power, didn't seem like it was that effective. I give Peterson credit, he was a beast but he even when Khan landed great combos, no effect. Not going to say Khan is Juan Diaz but to me it's starting to seem like Amir is either not that strong or he is now using his punches just to be flashy and get style points. Maybe 140 is tough for him to make and he's growing out it but a move to 147 imo is a bit much imo. For example, I don't like Khans chances at 147 versus a Victor Ortiz or an Andre Berto for example.

[GG Magic]

Originally Posted by Check

Another thing that is king of alarming is Khans power, didn't seem like it was that effective. I give Peterson credit, he was a beast but he even when Khan landed great combos, no effect. Not going to say Khan is Juan Diaz but to me it's starting to seem like Amir is either not that strong or he is now using his punches just to be flashy and get style points. Maybe 140 is tough for him to make and he's growing out it but a move to 147 imo is a bit much imo. For example, I don't like Khans chances at 147 versus a Victor Ortiz or an Andre Berto for example.

Good points. Khan's punches seemed to have little effect on Peterson in terms of slowing him down. For me, if Khan actually did work on the inside, he could have thrown body punches of his own to wear Peterson down. He weighed in at 139 at weigh in, and 147.5 the next morning, so I don't think weight is the issue.

I also don't like Khan going up against Ortiz, in particular since Ortiz would relentlessly stalk Khan around the ring and is much more powerful than Peterson.

I just don't see how a boxer can get away without having an inside game. It seems impossible when you're matched in strength and size.

[Check]

Originally Posted by GG Magic

Good points. Khan's punches seemed to have little effect on Peterson in terms of slowing him down. For me, if Khan actually did work on the inside, he could have thrown body punches of his own to wear Peterson down. He weighed in at 139 at weigh in, and 147.5 the next morning, so I don't think weight is the issue.

I also don't like Khan going up against Ortiz, in particular since Ortiz would relentlessly stalk Khan around the ring and is much more powerful than Peterson.

I just don't see how a boxer can get away without having an inside game. It seems impossible when you're matched in strength and size.

Well, the only way it seems like you can get away with it is if you have great boxing ability and I think that's what a lot of people thought about Khan. The problem is Khan doesn't seem to be improving that much under Roach or we just overvalued his skills because he is really fast. A lot of us forgot that being a sound boxer is much more than hand speed. Khans footwork, like you mentioned in the other post isn't good especially when he is backing up. He doesn't put himself in the best positions to be successful in terms of feet. Add in that it looks like he isn't that strong and a non existent inside fight game, he is lacking some very important things if he is going to go down the route of, "I'm gonna beat you because of my great boxing abilities". He has a ton of work to do but I'm not sure if he can do it because I've seen very little improvement with Roach.

[komodo]

Personally I dont think Lamont did enough to rip the belts away from Khan but hey it is what it is. The ref was a joke never seen him in charge of a title fight before and hopefully we'll never see him again. Khan can bounce back but he needs to raise his game big time.

[Khalid Muhammad]

That had to be the worse ref job I have seen since watching boxing (only Mora is comparable)

If your gonna warn/penalize Khan for pushing, why let Peterson push Khan against the ropes all night long if your against such tactics.

[Phil Ivey]

I was VERY disappointed Khan didn't learn his lesson from Maidana.... Maidana was landing CLEAN uppercuts whilst on the inside - Khan has yet to rectify this problem. Can't really take anything away from Khan's power.. you've got to remember Peterson is a beast is like Marquez in terms of resilience - Ortiz beat the crap out of him in the first rd and he came back never to be bothered by Ortiz's power again.

I want to see Peterson vs Maidana.. that would be awesome.

[Check]

Originally Posted by -Top Rank-

That had to be the worse ref job I have seen since watching boxing (only Mora is comparable)

If your gonna warn/penalize Khan for pushing, why let Peterson push Khan against the ropes all night long if your against such tactics.

Mora was way worse imo because he let illegal stuff go on. Like it or not, what Khan did was illegal but it obviously isn't as stressed as low blows and the such. The ref certainly wasn't giving Khan any leeway but I can't knock it, if it's illegal, it's illegal. It's kind of like someone going 5 miles over the speed limit and complaining that they got a ticket because they were only 5 miles over. I can't complain about it too much but you do have a point about Peterson not getting any type of warning.

[shawowski]

Whats annoying me the most after rewatching it is that khan took Lamonts best shots and could have probably stood with him, but he choose to run. i think if he would have traded with him he may have stopped him. Im a huge Khan fan but massive props to Lamont, he fought with his heart on his sleeve and i think infront of your home crowd you deserve the nod.
Does he normally fight so aggressive? Did he show the same desire against Bradley?

Thats another thing with Khan because he has got a name people will train harder than ever and give an extra 10 %

Berto and Ortiz destroy Khan at 147