Marco Antonio Barrera-Amir Khan To Still Go Forward

[Fighting Cougar]

Cant wait for this one.

[Dave Rado]

So, more Willy Limonds and Graham Earls it is then. Very seasoned.

That's even more daft than your previous statement, and makes you sound ignorant about boxing. Since when did anyone's boxing education mean going straight from fighting no-hopers to fighting world class fighters with nothing in between? A good match-maker would gradually improve his fighter's level of competition, and have him fight a wide range of different styles, so that the fighter experiences and learns to cope with a wide range of styles and faces gradually tougher tests as time goes on. Even a faded Barrera fighting above his best weight is still a big jump up in class from ***an, will force Khan to fight smart, and to think, and will be very good for Khan's boxing education, provided he can win (and he'll have to fight his best and his smartest in order to win).

For goodness sakes, the guy has only recently been slaughtered by Prescott, and then teamed up with one of the world's three most respected trainers. Roach honestly believes he can take Khan to the very top, but that it will take him at least a year, maybe two.

[Ch@mpBox@PR]

Good. Khan will UD Barrera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Heru]

I think Khan should skip MAB and wait for a serious opponent to open up their diary - Campbell, Marquez, Juan Diaz, Casamayor, Katsidis, etc.

Maybe even a Prescott rematch if the latter still manages to look good against whoever he's facing next (although I hope he gets exposed because I fookin hate the bastage!)

Or even consider a move to LWW. He's bulked up before, and Pac/Floyd/others have done it.

So you think he should move to the elite of the division when he's obviously not ready for it. A word of advice, if you ever get offered a matchmaking job to bring up prospects and what not, turn it down; you'd drive any promoter bankrupt.

What's daft about it - when, then? Who does he have to face until he can be considered 'elite' enough to hang with the big (little) boys? If he faces MAB, he gets ****. If he faces a non-top10 LW, he gets ****. What does the lad have to do?

Yeah, some smart-arse could say "Just retire and get out". But then, you could apply to any boxer someone doesn't like. They all have to start somewhere and try to move up. Why else are they there?

So, more Willy Limonds and Graham Earls it is then. Very seasoned.

Maybe, I don't know, how about the guy who knocked him out in the first round, Prescott?

He's not in the elite of the lightweights and rightfully so. You want Khan to get handed a title shot against at a titleholder when he hasn't beaten anyone to deserve a shot. You know? That little thing called earning. You have to fight other prospects and high ranking contenders to do that. MAB is the #1 ranked WBO contender at lightweight; 15,000 tickets were sold in mere days and he'll probably get a share of the biggest ppv profit he's made to date.

[Scott9945]

Don't be surprised if this fight turns out like De La Hoya-Chavez I did. You know going in that Barrera is damaged goods.

[MANGLER]

I'll **** a brick if this ends up like DLH-JCC I and MAB cuts as soon as he gets hit.

[big paulie]

I hope this is wrong and Barrera forces a postponement, i will lose alot of respect for him if he goes ahead with this fight, both teams need to learn from DLH V JCC otherwise they will be mugging the fans off, how the **** is Barrera supposed to have a proper camp and decent sparring, answer is he cant. He has been a consumate pro over the years and must see sense, if he just wants this for the payday and jepordises his chances of winning he can **** off

[Dave Rado]

I hope this is wrong and Barrera forces a postponement, i will lose alot of respect for him if he goes ahead with this fight, both teams need to learn from DLH V JCC otherwise they will be mugging the fans off, how the **** is Barrera supposed to have a proper camp and decent sparring, answer is he cant. He has been a consumate pro over the years and must see sense, if he just wants this for the payday and jepordises his chances of winning he can **** off

I agree ...

[PittyPat]

That's even more daft than your previous statement, and makes you sound ignorant about boxing. Since when did anyone's boxing education mean going straight from fighting no-hopers to fighting world class fighters with nothing in between? A good match-maker would gradually improve his fighter's level of competition, and have him fight a wide range of different styles, so that the fighter experiences and learns to cope with a wide range of styles and faces gradually tougher tests as time goes on. Even a faded Barrera fighting above his best weight is still a big jump up in class from ***an, will force Khan to fight smart, and to think, and will be very good for Khan's boxing education, provided he can win (and he'll have to fight his best and his smartest in order to win).

For goodness sakes, the guy has only recently been slaughtered by Prescott, and then teamed up with one of the world's three most respected trainers. Roach honestly believes he can take Khan to the very top, but that it will take him at least a year, maybe two.

I agree with all the above, and I'm not dis*****g that. My original quote saying that he should skip MAB and move onto world class opponents was posted out of sheer frustration and to draw a reaction - I want the guy to do well and to move up the ranks gradually and with finesse, but it seems as though he's one of those "damned if you do/don't" types for whom people will never give any credit. Every one of his opponents has been criticised so far, yet all he can realistically do is get in the ring and do his job.

There are people who would give Khan **** for fighting a "shot, past it" MAB, and it's being said already - they wouldn't give him the time of day even if he beat him. He genuinely could end up laying the smackdown on MAB and looking like Calzaghe against Jones (resulting in "He beat a shot fighter, what's special about that?"), or he could UD/SD him in a closely fought war ("He struggled, he can't hang with an old MAB!")

What I was getting at, is that if he should not fight elite opposition, then who should he fight? I brought up the Willie Limonds and Graham Earls because they're said to be "tomoto can bums" who do nothing to help his standing. So he either fights a shot MAB, more Limond-like bums, the guy who KHTFO (even though he has a fight lined up already), or top-level opposition. What is next for the young lad?

Maybe, I don't know, how about the guy who knocked him out in the first round, Prescott?

I would be all for a Prescott rematch.

[SHB]

I'd stake my points on this fight being pushed back a month. Ramirez has already ducked out of his fight with Enzo in March (wanting more time) so it makes sense to push this back to April.

What on earth is MAB doing taking a fight against someone at 1-7 a month beforehand anyway?