How do Amir Khan and Frankie Gavin match up talent wise?

[jamesmcdonnell]

Jones not only had speed of hand, but of thought as well. He also had incredible balance and footwork and a masterful judgement of distance. He was virtually unhittable between 160-168 and punished opponents with absolutely deadly accurate blistering combinations.

Khan has fast hands, but his other gifts are a pretty poor relation to Jones Juniors. The guy was virtually superhuman. Above 168 he became human as he was no longer the physical beast against naturally bigger men, but he still had a bloody good run of it.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Agree with El Tel on this one, Amir's the better athlete but Frankie looks a much better boxer already in his career. His punch selection, movement and ability looks to be on a completely different level to Amir, who wastes a lot of energy. I think that Frankie could mature into the more hurtful puncher of the two.

As for speed, I favour accuracy and Amir's accuracy was pretty pedestrian in the Kotelnik and Malignaggi fights. This wall of sound punching style is working well for Amir but I worry for him at the very highest level as he'll need to ramp his accuracy up. That said, the judges seem to becoming increasingly lazy in world boxing so it may prove to be the perfect style for domination down the line.

It was notable also that he failed to put any kind of dent in Barrera, who was a much smaller man, albeit one with a proven chin.

At top level, if you are going to be a volume puncher like that, you need a tight defence, an excellent engine, and great timing. Khan's defence is better, nothing wrong with his engine, but his timing isn't the best. The best fighters are going to slot a counter in whilst his arms are flapping away.

I've also noticed that when Khan doesn't manage to hurt his opponent early, he seems to go into a far more defensive mode, which suggests he's not going to be a good 2nd half fighter against someone who can press him and make him work. I still think Khan is a disaster waiting to happen at top level - and I'm pretty sure his team feel the same way. They will get the best they can out of his career, but that chin of his is going to get him, well, chinned, sooner or later.


I wonder whether they may just try and belt hop him up to Welter against a suitably weak champ or for a vacant belt. Maybe try and cash out with a fight against a fading Pacquaio in 2-3 years time.

[Infinite]

Why do you people grub? Why not Khan vs. Mayweather?

[jamesmcdonnell]

Think Mayweather will be too old by the time Khan is ready. He's already 33, and pretty inactive. However perfectly feasible I guess that Mayweather may well come back for a money fight and get beat by someone late into his thirties after retirning for several years, much like Ray Leonard did against Norris.

[Infinite]

[Deserter]

ok steve fair enough, but my point there is you can compare Khan's speed to others, pac Mayweather and if i wanted to go back a bit Meldrick Taylor (probably quicker) Mosley, etc etc etc
i can't compare anyone to RJJ and that's my point, Khan's as fast as the elite top 3 or 4 in terms of speed, RJJ was all on his own
so RJJ had so much mroe speed his other weaknesses were lessl ikely to be found out
MO Khan's advantage is less so he can't cover up his weaknesses as easily as RJJ did

Counter-Puncher, I agree with most of your logic there but you're missing a crucial point. The debate with Terry was with regards to athleticism vs technical ability and so it's purely relative i.e. in Khan's case the advantage is completely dependent on who he is facing. A Kotelnik, despite being a technically proficient boxer, was always going to be too slow so Khan may as well have been Jones Jr, as either way Kotelnik's own lack of athleticism meant he'd never be able to take advantage of it. Equally, if Khan's facing Bradley the gap in athleticism might be degraded to the point where he can't cover up his weaknesses.
All I'm simply saying is that there will always be occasions where athleticism does trump technical ability - those occasions being more probable to occur where the relative gap between the two fighters is a substantial one. Equally, where the gap is a narrow one, there is a stronger likelihood of the technical boxer overcoming the more natural athlete. Like I said, it's all relative

[Counter-puncher]

All I'm simply saying is that there will always be occasions where athleticism does trump technical ability - those occasions being more probable to occur where the relative gap between the two fighters is a substantial one. Equally, where the gap is a narrow one, there is a stronger likelihood of the technical boxer overcoming the more natural athlete. Like I said, it's all relative

we actually agree i think: RJJ was so much quicker that his advantage was absolute. Khan's is relative. I agreed earlier:

IMO Khan's advantage is less so he can't cover up his weaknesses as easily as RJJ did

[Deserter]

All I'm simply saying is that there will always be occasions where athleticism does trump technical ability - those occasions being more probable to occur where the relative gap between the two fighters is a substantial one. Equally, where the gap is a narrow one, there is a stronger likelihood of the technical boxer overcoming the more natural athlete. Like I said, it's all relative

we actually agree i think: RJJ was so much quicker that his advantage was absolute. Khan's is relative. I agreed earlier:

IMO Khan's advantage is less so he can't cover up his weaknesses as easily as RJJ did

I thnk you're right

[Counter-puncher]

you bored at work too?

[Infinite]

All I'm simply saying is that there will always be occasions where athleticism does trump technical ability - those occasions being more probable to occur where the relative gap between the two fighters is a substantial one. Equally, where the gap is a narrow one, there is a stronger likelihood of the technical boxer overcoming the more natural athlete. Like I said, it's all relative

we actually agree i think: RJJ was so much quicker that his advantage was absolute. Khan's is relative. I agreed earlier:

IMO Khan's advantage is less so he can't cover up his weaknesses as easily as RJJ did

Mike Tyson would have been goat otherwise.

[Deserter]

you bored at work too?

Yes, but fortunately I'm three hours ahead of you so I'm bailing now

[Infinite]

Click on Reetrain and Shadow Boxing...

www.reebok.com/GB/amirkhan

[BobD'Mello]

Just noticed a certain Rob Palmer on Frankie's wikipedia page, saying 'I'm watching you, Frankster'. Still makes me chuckle when I see wikipedia hijacked like that.

[Scrap]

Gavins got a Boxing Brain, Khan hasnt to me. Gavin is a great Fighter, with a great chin who can adapt, what ive seen Arnies doing a good job. I think in under 2 year He will win something Big, the miserable pudendum. DD

[Infinite]

They both got brain, otherwise Gavin would be the only one.

[Infinite]

It’s Einstein & Newton now.

[gizmo1]

Gavin may have the better boxing brain and technical skill set but he will be 25 next month while Khan is only 23 years old and improving just as quickly as Gavin. Right now, Khan would win comfortably but even if they get to fight in a couple of years time, the fact that Khan continues to improve should mean that he would beat Gavin. No doubt Frankie will become a good world champ in due course. Although I may not like some of the things young Amir says or does, if his team can somehow cover up the weakness in his chin department and he can keep his dedication to boxing then Khan could be something really special in a couple of years time. It's great to see that the future of British boxing is still shining bright.

[Infinite]

One was born in 1985 & the other in 1986, surely that ain’t nuttin’.

[gizmo1]

One was born in 1985 & the other in 1986, surely that ain’t nuttin’.

One is already a world champ and has made defences of his belt while the other won't be a champ for a few years yet (when nearing 30)! As for the question about which is more difficult, winning an olympic silver or a worlds gold. You need to remember that Amir was only 17 when he won silver while Frankie was 22 when he won a worlds gold. One was a man and the other was a mere boy. Indeed Amir was 22 when he won the WBA world title as a pro. Anyway, enough of the nit picking. They are both excellent boxers, with exciting styles and who will be champions for a long time. Above all they are both British so let us just enjoy them and give them credit while they are still in the game and not after they've gone like has been the script in recent times.
BTW:

[Counter-puncher]

Horse

[Infinite]

One was born in 1985 & the other in 1986, surely that ain’t nuttin’.

One is already a world champ and has made defences of his belt while the other won't be a champ for a few years yet (when nearing 30)! As for the question about which is more difficult, winning an olympic silver or a worlds gold. You need to remember that Amir was only 17 when he won silver while Frankie was 22 when he won a worlds gold. One was a man and the other was a mere boy. Indeed Amir was 22 when he won the WBA world title as a pro. Anyway, enough of the nit picking. They are both excellent boxers, with exciting styles and who will be champions for a long time. Above all they are both British so let us just enjoy them and give them credit while they are still in the game and not after they've gone like has been the script in recent times.
BTW:

[Infinite]