Khan says May 15 fight with Malignaggi is official
by Scott Christ on Feb 17, 2010 7:25 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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PrintFrom Amir Khan's Twitter:
Malignaggi hasn't said anything anywhere, but this makes it look like it's a go, which was pretty well expected anyway.
Khan (22-1, 16 KO) will defend his WBA junior welterweight title against Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO) at Madison Square Garden, which should do a pretty decent house with Paulie pulling most of the weight at the gate. It's an intriguing fight between a couple of guys with a lot of skill and a lot of speed, who both make the most of what they've got when they've got it all working. Malignaggi has looked like a reborn boxer since splitting with ex-trainer Buddy McGirt, putting in back-to-back performances against Juan Diaz that have been his best in a long time.
Khan is coming off of a 2009 that saw him beat Marco Antonio Barrera in a farce of a fight, then win the WBA belt from Andriy Kotelnik with a near-shutout decision. He also overwhelmed unqualified challenger Dmitriy Salita in December, putting the New Yorker away in the first round.
Paulie and Amir both have a lot to prove still, and are jockeying for position in a very competitive junior welterweight division. The winner of this fight has a good argument to be the guy calling at least some of the shots. With Paulie's history of big (or at least fairly big) fights, he's among the division's biggest stars at the cash register. No one ranks Paulie above Timothy Bradley at 140, but he's a bigger name, and there's no arguing that. Outside of Ricky Hatton, who is a bigger star?
It's a risky proposition for Khan, but that's what it has to be. He can't keep taking Salita-level fights, or else he's just going to meet backlash. Paulie is a legit contender who's gotten himself back in the race at 140 and earned his title shot.
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He is a great choice for Khan because he is well known and doesn’t possess any punching power. He is a good choice for Paulie because a Khan fight will bring the most money. At the same time, it is a bit of a Crossroads fight for Paulie. A win probably gets him into another big fight, but a loss probably relegates him to one level below elite.
I'm pulling for paulie
but the problem is that he has to have enough pop to make Amir respect him. If not it’s going to be a long night for Paulie.
by SmittytheCutman on Feb 17, 2010 9:11 PM EST reply actions
nope
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 17, 2010 9:46 PM EST up reply actions
I got Khan UD. Paulie will give him troubles but he will still see it out. Probably make for a good fight
"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up." - Ali
Agreed
This has the makings of a fun fight. Even if Khan wins decisively, Paulie has skills and can take a punch. Plus Paulie brings some drama to his fights, and Khan brings the KO threat.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
by Matt Miller on Feb 17, 2010 11:45 PM EST up reply actions
Actually I think Paulie has a better chance of KO’ing Khan than the other way around. Feather fist vs. Glass Jaw! Whose deficiency will reign supreme?
by Waldo Rastel on Feb 18, 2010 4:49 AM EST up reply actions
I've got Khan by UD
It should be a very fun fight tactically.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
When i say ‘more emphatically’ i mean i think he will stop Paulie as opposed to his trainer pulling him out,
I still think it will be competitve while it lasts though and until Khan starts to figure him out.
I will be surprised if Khan stops Paulie
He doesn’t really fight in a way which lends itself to staggering opponents or knocking them down, and Malignaggi has a very good chin. He may adapt this for Malignaggi seeing as Malignaggi has so little power in his brittle hands but I still think this is going to be very much “pure” boxing match which goes to the cards.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Feb 18, 2010 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
I think he’s going to be a lot more aggressive and he might well stop him late. It’ll be a nice coming out party, If he decides to drop his minimum and actually get the fight finalised, which I heard is not actually the case yet. Hopefully he does though, this being such a great potential match up for him.
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
Yeah,Khan needs to be more realistic about his worth seen as this is his first big fight in America.
$1 million ON TOP of the UK PPV money sounds too much to me.
As you say i hope he drops his minimum because i like the look of both the fights on this potential card.
by Matt Mosley on Feb 18, 2010 11:14 AM EST up reply actions
I agree. Nobody really looks good against Paulie.He’s just a very unorthodox slippery fighter.Yes and has an excellent chin.See people see the flamboyancy and the cockiness and his credit is disregarded.Power has never been Paulies game.He has a bad right hand. and thats where i think his power might have been if any..Khan I think is gonna have to adjust with his timing.Malinaggi is hard to catch.HARD.Once you plant ur feet… He’s gone!!!!
The Resistable Force Meets The Movable Object
I’m going to very disappointed if that’s not on the promotional poster.
by Verklemptomaniac on Feb 18, 2010 9:22 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
like it :))
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
This fight will back fire on Con. If Willie Limond can hurt him, I see no reason Malignaggi can’t. He hurt Juan Diaz. And I consider Con’s chin to be that bad. While Malignaggi is a name and a good fighter, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a hand picked fight. Con’s people are doing every thing in there power to keep him away from anybody who can punch
If a man ain't found something worth dying for. He ain't fit to live.
by Violent Demise on Feb 18, 2010 12:09 PM EST reply actions
He’ll eventually have to fight someone who can really punch, and he’s entitled to hand pick and make some money in the meantime. As Brickhaus said in another post, I guess across the pond most people think Khan’s is a chin of glass and here we see it more…charitably :)
To call him ‘Con’ is a little bit of a cheap shot, IMHO. Most prospects don’t react well or come back after a loss, particularly a vicious KO (Ortiz and Codrington spring immediately to mind). Khan’s reaction was to be humble, and go away and work hard. You need to be brave to box, but especially so when your chin has proven to be very fragile. He could have whined Prescott got lucky or decided that there were safer ways to make money(and he has other decent options), but he didn’t.
For some perverse reason many seem to be dying to see him put on his ass again as soon as possible. Or like its some crime against the fans and humanity itself that he’s not fighting Maidana right now. As if a boxer deciding to fight someone else of less risk/and more money is as novel a concept as Olympic style drugs testing….
Sorry to ramble on, I think ‘Con’ is unfair, quite possibly lacking a bit of class, and frankly wrong. I don’t get it at all.
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
by BrianBrock on Feb 18, 2010 2:30 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Rec'd
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Feb 18, 2010 4:21 PM EST up reply actions
What exactly has Con done to entitled him to hand pick his opponents? He’s won a paper title from a paper champion. That’s it. That’s the problem with Boxing today. To many fighters want a hand pick there fights instead of fighting tough opponents. Yes Malignaggi is a good fighter. But he doesn’t pose the danger Maidana does. The fighter he should be facing.
I don’t understand how you say Con has reacted well or has bounce back from his knock out loss when he has yet to face a puncher. The fact that he hasn’t faced one pretty much says he hasn’t got over it.
And how can you say Ortiz hasn’t came back well when he’s only had 1 fight back? A stoppage win.
If a man ain't found something worth dying for. He ain't fit to live.
by Violent Demise on Feb 18, 2010 7:16 PM EST up reply actions
And how can you say Ortiz hasn’t came back well when he’s only had 1 fight back? A stoppage win.
Where he looked very tentative. Against a shot fighter. And now he’s facing a guy who has lost 8 of 10, with the reward for winning that a fight against Nate Campbell, who’s closing in on 40 and didn’t look good at all against Tim Bradley. Golden Boy has the baby gloves on with Ortiz.
Yes Malignaggi is a good fighter. But he doesn’t pose the danger Maidana does. The fighter he should be facing.
I agree he doesn’t pose the same danger, but he poses a danger, and he’s a much, much bigger name than Maidana. You can even quite easily argue that Malignaggi is better than Maidana. Also, why “should” he be facing Maidana? What has Maidana done? Fought close with Kotelnik and then beat Ortiz, who has about 0 quality wins on his record. I like Maidana plenty, but Malignaggi has a better resume.
If the titles are paper titles — and I agree Khan’s and most alphabet belts are indeed paper titles — then I can’t see Maidana being appointed “mandatory challenger” by the WBA as a good enough reason that Khan “should” face Maidana instead of Malignaggi, who not only is worth more money and is a better fight for Khan, but is every bit as deserving as Maidana to get the shot at the (paper) title.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 18, 2010 7:35 PM EST up reply actions
He's not a paper champion
He won the belt from Kotelnik, and there’s a pretty long (although crappy) lineage behind that belt. But Kotelnik is a pretty decent boxer, and I’d still favor him to beat several guys in the top 10.
Are his people hand picking his opponents? Absolutely. But that’s true for most major draws.
I’d rather see him face Maidana too though. I think the ‘building up a fight’ line is BS. Maidana isn’t going to get much bigger than he is. He’s good, but he’s not great, and if they keep putting him in there with decent competition, he’ll lose eventually and that will be a bullet that Khan has dodged, because Maidana is absolutely the worst style matchup out there possibly available.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
The fact that he beat Kotelnik is why I consider him a paper champion. Kotelnik had no buisness being champion. I seen Kotelnik-Maidana about 4 or 5 different times. And I have no idea how Maidana didn’t get the win. I mean come on. Maidana should of been champion. And he should be facing Con.
All this Malignaggi brings more money line is bullshit. Con gets a minimum 1 million from Golden Boy. What more he want? He’s already over paid.
If a man ain't found something worth dying for. He ain't fit to live.
by Violent Demise on Feb 18, 2010 10:41 PM EST up reply actions
All this Malignaggi brings more money line is bullshit.
Well other than the fact that it’s true…
Con gets a minimum 1 million from Golden Boy. What more he want? He’s already over paid.
He doesn’t get $1 million from Golden Boy, exactly, it’s in his contract that he gets $1 million minimum from American TV. It’s absolutely ridiculous, and we agree there, but it’ll probably get waived for basically every fight he takes until he becomes a big enough star for it to make any sense.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 19, 2010 12:59 AM EST up reply actions
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