Barrera vs. Khan : Legacy vs. Legitimacy

2 weeks from now, young 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Amir Khan will step into the boxing ring to face down the greatest challenge of his young Professional career: "The Baby Faced Assassin" Marco Antonio Barrera. For Barrera (65-6-1 with 43 KOs), this fight is the third in the 35 year old veteran's plan to become the first ever Mexican to capture 4 World Titles in 4 different Weight Divisions. For Khan, (19-1 with 15KOs), it's a shot at redemption, to face down and beat one of the biggest stars in boxing's recent history, and try to erase any doubt people may have had about him after losing his perfect record by first round knockout to Bredis Prescott last September. There are many questions circling my head, going into this fight : Is Amir Khan too young to be thrown in the ring with an experienced warrior like Barrera? How much does Barrera really have left? Who has the most to prove right now? This is a classic matchup of youth vs. experience, but I think the even greater title for this one would be "Legacy vs. Legitimacy". Barrera is fighting for Legacy here. He wants to be the first Mexican to ever capture 4 World Titles in 4 Different Weight Classes. But in order for him to be able to stake that claim, he must first get through the younger, bigger, faster Khan. Khan is fighting for Legitimacy here. He wants to bounce back from his first professional loss, a devestating knockout loss at that, and he wants to bounce back big. What could possibly be bigger than adding the name of a Future Hall of Famer and living Legend like Barrera to your record? The risks for Barrera here are many. Khan is younger, his body has the benefit of not having been in the brutal battles that Barrera's has been in. Khan is faster, his reflexes are everything you'd expect from a 22 year old prizefighter. Khan is bigger, he's a natural lightweight who has a 4 inch height advantage over the smaller Mexican Legend. The risks for Khan here are many as well. Barrera is much more experienced, you're talking about a 3 division World Champion who's has had nearly quadruple the amount of fights Khan has had, and over triple the amount of victories, he has over twice as many knockouts as Khan has professional fights. Not to mention the fact that he's been in the ring with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed, Junior Jones, and numerous other standouts of his era. It's also a bit of a gamble on Khan's part, he's rolling the dice, so to speak. He's taking a calculated risk, hoping that his superior speed will save the day against the past-prime Barrera. But what if Barrera is not done? What if he has even more left in the tank that we do not know about? It's not entirely impossible, Barrera has been written off numerous times in his career, and numerous times he's staged dramatic comebacks. He's proven himself to be more than capable of rising to the challenge when nobody else thinks he can. So who do you think wins this fight? I think Khan's calculated risk blows up in his face, I think he comes in expecting a Marco Antonio Barrera who doesn't have much left in the tank. And that may be true, Marco's best days in the boxing world are probably numbered. But what little he does have left in the tank, should be more than enough to handle Khan.