FanPost

Oh Amir! - Khan vs. Alexander review



There are times in a boxing fight where everything is going right for a boxer. There are also times when everything is going wrong for a boxer. On December 13th the former was true for Amir Khan, the latter for Devon Alexander. Devon Alexander was unquestionably and thoroughly beaten by Amir Khan. If Khan hadn’t had a career defining fight before heading into this one, he definitely left with one. Doing what he did to Alexander is no small task. Alexander, not known for particularly excelling in any particular category, always had one skill most observers would agree on; being a great technical boxer with a high ring IQ. Even in his previous 2 losses, (3 if you include the Matthysse fight) he was not beaten as soundly as he was by Khan. Surprisingly Khan’s game plan was VERY simple, yet effective. He simply circled to his left the whole entire fight and pivoted when Alexander engaged, leaving him reaching for the majority of fight. And boy did Alexander reach all night. The offense was typical Khan, fast flurries while moving in and out. It was surprising how often Khan was able to land his lead right hand and left hook combos. If you haven’t seen the fight go watch it. I kid you not, Khan did the same thing from the 1st round to the 12th and looked pretty darn good doing it. Overall, I liked the Khan I saw Saturday. He seems to be "thinking" about defense now instead of just reacting. Yes he still got hit by being careless, but his offense seems to be predicated on trying to pick shots instead of arrogantly trying to use his speed to carelessly get in and out. I noticed similar attributes in the Collazo fight as well. Collectively, that was a very, very ugly fight. Khan chose to fight that way, but why? I honestly believe that that was the beginning of Khan being defensively tuned in. He knew Collazo could and would try to bring the fight and knock him out so he elected to hold, I mean clinch when Collazo got in close. (Another top boxer employed this tactic in his last fight and found similar success. : )) That fight was hard to watch, but Khan absolutely cruised to a UD, showing some pretty nice offense along the way. What do you guys think of the fight and Khan’s progression, or lack thereof?

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