By Cliff Rold
It turned out to be what it looked like on paper: the easiest notable fights to pick so far in 2010.
In a battle between two guys of comparable speed and boxing ability, pick the bigger, younger, more powerful guys when he’s in with someone who has a knockout percentage that looks like Tim Lincecum’s E.R.A…especially when the guy with the offensive advantages is a former Olympic Medalist with superstar hopes making a much hyped Madison Square Garden (and U.S. in general) debut.
WBA Jr. Welterweight titlist Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO) needed a name opponent who he could beat and look good doing it. Former titlist Paulie Malignaggi (27-4, 5 KO) tried not to play the part but, in the end, could do nothing to stop it.
Let’s go the report card.
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Khan A; Malignaggi A/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Khan B+; Malignaggi C-/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Khan B; Malignaggi B+/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Khan B; Malignaggi B+/Post: Same
The God-given edges in height and reach for Khan turned out to perfectly compliment Khan’s exceptional speed and that was, really, checkmate early on. Khan established the jab right away and Malignaggi, staying largely in the pocket, couldn’t counter effectively because he was being forced to constantly try to avoid the jab and whatever followed it.
Not that Malignaggi failed to land. There was some swelling on the face of both men at night’s end. Khan’s got there because, for single quick instances, Malignaggi laced in some nice rights and had spotty success with lead left hooks. It was a reminder that Khan is hittable, something fellow Jr. Welterweight titlist with more complete arsenals than Malignaggi will be sure to remember. Malignaggi ultimately was far more hittable and Khan, who absorbed Malignaggi’s shots with no issue, was able to come forward with unrestrained aggression.
It was the latest example that Khan has begun to mature fully as a professional against certain styles. Faced with boxer-types, he’s a hard out and fights with focus and confidence beyond his only 23 years. There are fighters who never come forward again after a bad loss (more on that below) but Khan isn’t proving one of them. Malignaggi, as always, showed moxie. Win or lose, Paulie tries his best and only the A-list has handled him to date. That speaks well of Khan.
Looking Ahead
Malignaggi, only 29, doesn’t have to feel like he’s hit a wall just yet. His split in 2009 with Juan Diaz showed he still had plenty near the upper levels of the sport and losing to a skilled fighter of superior athletic talent is just that. Right now Jr. Welterweight is having the sort of talent run all might still be talking about years from now and so options for accomplishment may appear limited. However, the modern era has proven that talent pools dry fast as fighters lose or grow up the scale. If he can stick it out, chances for another belt could come up somewhere down the road in the right matches.
Khan entered the weekend a major player at 140 lbs. and nothing changes after his second defense of the belt he won last year against veteran Andriy Kotelnik. Given his fan base in England and HBO ties through Golden Boy Promotions, Khan is in an enviable position. He’s talented enough to make the most of it…with the right matchmaking.
His biggest threats might not be the division’s two best fighters. Sure, WBO titlist Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO) and WBC titlist Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KO) probably defeat Khan because they appear to be better fighters than Khan. Those aren’t fights though where Khan could not prove those predictions wrong, where he could not win. They are also likely not fights where, even in defeat, he would look bad at the end of a given night.
Marcos Maidana could make him look real bad even if, piece for piece as a fighter, he shouldn’t be better than Khan. It was nice to hear Khan say he’s willing to fight Maidana (28-1, 27 KO), but it remains to be seen how serious his management would be about it.
On the American broadcast on Saturday, much was made of Khan’s opening round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008, but the Prescott result is not an island.
Prescott was the culmination of a number of instances where Khan was stunned, dropped, or both on his way up the ranks. Until proven otherwise, his chin remains highly suspect. Paulie Malignaggi, whose power rates below even the mediocre pop of Willie Limond (see Khan-Limond, 2007), wasn’t going to test it so he wasn’t going to really test Khan.
Until someone does, healthy skepticism will and should remain about a fighter whose star package may be greater than his total package.
Report Card Picks 2010: 14-8
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com