Amir Khan Weathers The Storm To Avoid Disaster in Vegas

By Jake Donovan

Amir Khan rode an early lead to avoid disaster down the stretch in taking a vlose decision win over Marcos Maidana in their 12-round junior welterweight bout Saturday evening at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Scores were 114-111 (twice) and 113-112 in favor of Khan. Boxingscene.com also saw Khan as the victor by score of 114-111.

The general consensus going into the fight was that Khan would box and Maidana would brawl. However, it was the lanky Brit who made his presence felt early, scoring with a right and left to the body that floored Maidana in the opening round. The Argentinean beat the count, but winced in pain the entire time as well as on his way back to the corner.

From there, the table was set for a shootout, much to the pleasure of those who feared that Khan would try to turn a fight into a boxing match. The crowd wasn’t exactly capacity (attendance announced at 4,632) but was vocal in their support of Khan, with many among those in attendance having made the trek from jolly old England.

Khan, to his credit, did everything to keep the crowd entertained early on. The onslaught continued in the second with a brilliant boxing display, though Maidana managed to sneak in a body shot at rounds end.

Maidana provided some anxious moments in the third, scoring with a right hand that had Khan briefly stunned. The shot clearly had an effect on Khan, who employed more defense and movement into his repertoire in the fourth, while Maidana assumed the role of aggressor.

Momentum changed in the fifth, as Khan planted his feet and landed an early combination. Maidana struggled to catch Khan cleanly, save for an elbow off of a missed right hand, resulting in a point deduction from referee Joe Cortez, who struggled throughout to maintain control and seemed way too anxious to get in Maidana’s face to demand a clean fight.

Sensing early desperation, Maidana had knockout on his mind from the sixth round on. The mentality that he wasn’t going to win a decision actually served him well, as several right hands had Khan in trouble at various points in the sixth.

A right uppercut midway through the seventh had Khan on the run, with several overhand rights also landing clean for Maidana. Khan was urged by his corner to remain the busier fighter, and he responded with rapid fire combinations in the eighth round.

The disparity in hand speed was once again on display in the ninth, as Khan found the perfect blend of offense and defense to disrupt Maidana’s rhythm. A left-right appeared to have dropped Maidana for the second time in the fight, although replays supported Cortez’ ruling of a slip in the corner.

With the fight mathematically out of reach, it was clear that Maidana needed something dramatic to happen in order to win the fight. It nearly happened in the tenth, a round that perhaps Khan will one day look back and turn to as the greatest gut check of his career.

No knockdowns were scored, but it was the very definition of a 10-8 round as Maidana battered him from beginning to end. A right hand began the rally, causing Khan’s right leg to kick out from underneath him. Maidana went on the attack, unloading at will though unable to put away the Brit, who managed to regain his legs by rounds end.

Khan was still a bit spooked as the 11th round began, though Maidana had to spend much of the round catching his breath, having expended a tremendous amount of energy in the 10th. Khan brought the crowd to its feet by nearly taking Maidana off of his after landing a monster right uppercut. It was the last major power punch he would land, as the rest of the fight became a race against the clock in order for Khan to preserve a decision victory.

Maidana sensed that Khan was out of the hurt business for the remainder of the fight, unloading in the final round in hopes of preventing the bout from going to the cards. It was enough to win him the round, but not enough to atone for the early deficit, falling just short as the final bell rang to end the night.

Khan improves to 24-1 (17KO) with the win, his sixth straight since the disastrous first round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott more than two years ago.

Questions arose after that fight as to whether or not Khan could ever again handle himself against a noted puncher. Saturday’s result went a long way towards answering that question.

“I made a mistake in my past, and am now a different fighter,” Khan insisted afterwards. “Between Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza I am now a much stronger fighter. I took his best shots and I kept coming.”

Maidana’s four-fight win streak comes to a close as he falls to 29-2 (27KO). His only other loss came last year, dropping a close decision at the hands of Andriy Kotelnik, whom Khan beat in his very next fight to begin his alphabet title reign.

As was the case against Kotelnik, Maidana believes the wrong man had his arm raised at the end of the night.

“I thought I won it, I thought I did enough in the final rounds to take it.”

The judges said otherwise, although he did enough to confirm his reputation as one of the most dangerous punchers in the sport today.

He also proved that he belongs among the best junior welterweights in the world today. Though despite the late surge, he remains one step behind Khan, who continues to prove that one disastrous loss does not kill a career.

ORTIZ, PETERSON BATTLE TO A STALEMATE

In the televised co-feature, Victor Ortiz and Lamont Peterson fought to a majority draw that was shocking upon initial reading, but perhaps accurate considering the number of rounds that were difficult to score.

The bout took a few rounds to get going, but was worth the wait once things picked up. Ortiz landed a couple of lefts early on that had Peterson slightly wobbled, but was also left with a cut in his hairline after an accidental clash of heads.

Things picked up dramatically in the third, when Ortiz finally opened up, spelling bad news for Peterson. A five-punch combination floored Peterson for the first of two times in the round, initiated by a right uppercut. Body shots by Ortiz later in the round forced Peterson to a knee before quickly bouncing back up, though correctly ruled a knockdown by referee Vic Drakulich.

Peterson showed an incredible amount of resiliency, not only surviving the round but clocking Ortiz with a left hook right before the bell. The D.C. native carried over the momentum in the fourth, landing several more left hooks, as well as right hands to the body and upstairs. However, Ortiz kept coming forward, impervious to the incoming as he landed heavy artillery of his own that led to blood flowing from Peterson’s nose.

Things slowed midway through, as both fighters opted to move more than was the case in the previous two action packed rounds. Ortiz seemed to gain control on the strength of his natural power advantage, but Peterson rallied back hard in the final three rounds. There was no bigger round he enjoyed than a power-punching eighth, landing more than half of his punches.

Ortiz elected to box down the stretch and was perhaps caught off guard in the final round when Peterson opted to plant his feet and trade. The shift in styles resulted in a big final minute for Peterson, rocking Ortiz after connecting with consecutive power shots.

The surprising late surge by the brave Peterson proved to make a considerable impact on the scorecards, to where the early knockdowns proved to be the difference between the actual draw verdict and what would’ve been an upset victory.

Peterson won 95-93 on one card, but was overruled by matching scores of 94-94 to leave both fighters winless on the night.

Ortiz’s record moves to 29-2-2 (23KO), though it stands to reason that his stock goes down with the non-win. A victory would’ve enabled him to come all the way back to the rising star status he enjoyed prior to the Maidana meltdown last June.

Instead, he will now have to live with the fact that he allowed to slip through his fingers a fight in which he was spotted a huge early lead against a lighter-hitting opponent, but in the end couldn’t close the show.

In that vein, Peterson enjoys a career revival despite his hand not being raised in victory. His record now stands at 28-1-1 (14KO), though arguably in his best career performance to date.

The lone loss of his career came a year ago at the hands of Tim Bradley, though in this performance Peterson proves he still belongs with the best of the rest in a loaded junior welterweight division.

Both fights were presented by Golden Boy Promotions and aired live on HBO.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to