Khan v Mayweather: what do we think now?

[TJ77]

Given Khan's C.V. in recent years - which features wins over world class or fringe world class guys like Kotelnik, Malignaggi, Judah, Maidana and McCloskey - the least you can say is that he's a legitimate challenger, and deserves his shot should he get it.

He'd be a huge underdog going into the fight, and rightly so given the quality of the opponent, but i'd be interested to see how he gets on. Hatton, as game and as brave as he was, struggled to lay a glove on Mayweather after the first couple of rounds - could Khan do any better?

Mainly down to Joe Cortez

[jamesmcdonnell]

Khan's improving rapidly, we don't know how Mayweather's doing but he can't get any better can he if he only fights once every 18 months. Let's see how he fares against Ortiz...

Thing is, Khan could carry on improving, beat Mayweather down the line in say a year or two and he still won't get any credit as people will say it was Floyd's age/lack of inactivity, not Khan's improvement that won him the fight.

Remember, Floyd didn't look all that against a shopworn Mosley and got staggered and has been off for ages. I'd not be surprised if he really has a tough fight against Ortiz that'll have everyone clamouring for a Khan v Mayweather showdown.

Ditto Dirtbox me old china.

I think this could be a bit of a reality check for Floyd. I think if he struggles against Ortiz, he may retire, I don't think Floyd will want to lose his 0.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Who should Mayweather have fought?

Cotto
Margarito
Mosley - a younger one
Williams
Clottey
Berto

Any three/four of those - instead of a fake retirement.

And Tszyu when he was king of the weight division Mayweather was in, but Floyd opted to fight Arturo Gatti. There's even an argument out there that he should have stayed at 130 for a bit longer to take on Freitas and Casamayor, who were both giving Mayweather serious arguments for the king of 130 at the time. But as far as that's concerned, I buy Mayweather's explanation that he could no longer make weight. What can't be denied, though, is that since the Castillo II, Mayweather has fastidiously avoided every major challenger through all the weights he's fought at. Mosley was the first proper welterweight he's fought, for Christ's sake, and he was about 117 on his next birthday, and clearly can no longer pull the trigger.

It's pretty clear now that Mayweather will fight anyone to avoid fighting Pacquiao, who he's clearly terrified of. If Khan wins another fight, and Mayweather makes it past Ortiz, I would say a fight between the two is inevitable -- as long as Khan doesn't look too impressive.

You've really gone and done it now

I agree with your point though. Him vs Casamayor at 135 would have been a cracker I feel.

It's not that he didn't have the ability to beat these fighters either, his demolition of Corrales was an absolute masterclass. I guess the trappings of being undefeated proved too much for him, especially when the big money started rolling in.

When people say he's one of the best ever it grates with me, considering his slate above 135 is average at best. Gatti, Bruseles and Corley sucks, Khan has a better record at the weight than he does. Even if he beats Pacquiao, Manny will go down as the greater fighter of the two, having beaten the three great Mexicans (possibly each of them twice come November ) and several welterweights who Floyd wanted nothing to do with.

That's without adding his wins at the lower weights too.

Anyway..... I'm going off on a tangent

Let's get the fight made!

To be fair to Floyd, he did call Mosley out when Mosley was younger, but Mosley didn't want to know.

[mrbassie]

I don't think he could beat Mayweather, Khan may a brilliant athlete but he's not a clever guy and he's not a clever fighter. He's a good combination puncher but not a creative one if you follow me. I remember thinking in several of his fights (some with Roach) that he seems to have a couple of set attacks/combinations and if they're not landing he keeps throwing them over and over again until a couple of rounds later he finally tries something else.
Because of this I don't think Mayweather would find it hard to frustrate him.

[Carbo]

And Tszyu when he was king of the weight division Mayweather was in, but Floyd opted to fight Arturo Gatti. There's even an argument out there that he should have stayed at 130 for a bit longer to take on Freitas and Casamayor, who were both giving Mayweather serious arguments for the king of 130 at the time. But as far as that's concerned, I buy Mayweather's explanation that he could no longer make weight. What can't be denied, though, is that since the Castillo II, Mayweather has fastidiously avoided every major challenger through all the weights he's fought at. Mosley was the first proper welterweight he's fought, for Christ's sake, and he was about 117 on his next birthday, and clearly can no longer pull the trigger.

It's pretty clear now that Mayweather will fight anyone to avoid fighting Pacquiao, who he's clearly terrified of. If Khan wins another fight, and Mayweather makes it past Ortiz, I would say a fight between the two is inevitable -- as long as Khan doesn't look too impressive.

You've really gone and done it now

I agree with your point though. Him vs Casamayor at 135 would have been a cracker I feel.

It's not that he didn't have the ability to beat these fighters either, his demolition of Corrales was an absolute masterclass. I guess the trappings of being undefeated proved too much for him, especially when the big money started rolling in.

When people say he's one of the best ever it grates with me, considering his slate above 135 is average at best. Gatti, Bruseles and Corley sucks, Khan has a better record at the weight than he does. Even if he beats Pacquiao, Manny will go down as the greater fighter of the two, having beaten the three great Mexicans (possibly each of them twice come November ) and several welterweights who Floyd wanted nothing to do with.

That's without adding his wins at the lower weights too.

Anyway..... I'm going off on a tangent

Let's get the fight made!

To be fair to Floyd, he did call Mosley out when Mosley was younger, but Mosley didn't want to know.

And then spent much of the rest of his career avoiding Mosley using just that as an excuse -- until, of course, Mosley was collecting his pension.

[n1ebf]

A few fights back i dont think anyone would have taken this fight seriously, but now there is no doubt in my mind Khan is one of the biggest threats out there to Mayweather. His defence and his chin have improved so much over the last couple of years that i'm sure he's now ready for such a challenge. All he needs is a fight or two at 147lbs to get himself comfortable at the weight, then its on.

His defence and his chin are sound, i would not expect him to crumble early against Mayweather's pot shotting, it would be as the fight wears on Mayweather might start to dominate, or score a KO. The pace Khan fights at, his high workrate and his lightning quick attacks would prove a very big obsticle for Mayweather. On points, Khan would have a great chance.

Its hard to believe what i'm about to say, but i think if Khan keeps looking this good, Mayweather might not want any of it!

there was nothing "wrong" with his chin in the first place. You can improve your defence by practice but you don't give somebody credit in the same breath for "improving their chin". Many will people will happily read over that line and swallow it , but it's nonsense I'm afraid.

[rockyrandall2]

IMO Khan is overated, carefully and skillfully matched and not in Mayweathers league. Maidana aside, hie route to, and defences of the title have shown careful matchmaking.

[ALI]

And Tszyu when he was king of the weight division Mayweather was in, but Floyd opted to fight Arturo Gatti. There's even an argument out there that he should have stayed at 130 for a bit longer to take on Freitas and Casamayor, who were both giving Mayweather serious arguments for the king of 130 at the time. But as far as that's concerned, I buy Mayweather's explanation that he could no longer make weight. What can't be denied, though, is that since the Castillo II, Mayweather has fastidiously avoided every major challenger through all the weights he's fought at. Mosley was the first proper welterweight he's fought, for Christ's sake, and he was about 117 on his next birthday, and clearly can no longer pull the trigger.

It's pretty clear now that Mayweather will fight anyone to avoid fighting Pacquiao, who he's clearly terrified of. If Khan wins another fight, and Mayweather makes it past Ortiz, I would say a fight between the two is inevitable -- as long as Khan doesn't look too impressive.

You've really gone and done it now

I agree with your point though. Him vs Casamayor at 135 would have been a cracker I feel.

It's not that he didn't have the ability to beat these fighters either, his demolition of Corrales was an absolute masterclass. I guess the trappings of being undefeated proved too much for him, especially when the big money started rolling in.

When people say he's one of the best ever it grates with me, considering his slate above 135 is average at best. Gatti, Bruseles and Corley sucks, Khan has a better record at the weight than he does. Even if he beats Pacquiao, Manny will go down as the greater fighter of the two, having beaten the three great Mexicans (possibly each of them twice come November ) and several welterweights who Floyd wanted nothing to do with.

That's without adding his wins at the lower weights too.

Anyway..... I'm going off on a tangent

Let's get the fight made!

To be fair to Floyd, he did call Mosley out when Mosley was younger, but Mosley didn't want to know.

To be fair to Mosley, they were not even in the same division. Mosley had already made around 10 defences of his title at 135lbs at the time Mayweather called him out and was heading in a totally different direction. He was trhe big star at the time and had no real business with Mayweather, who had not long since won his first world title down at 130lbs at the time Mosley moved up to 147lbs. Mayweather in early 1999 was not even recognised as the dominant fighter at 130lbs, dont forget it was not until 2001 that he had his signature win against Corrales, still down at featherweight. At the same time he was shining against Corrales, Mosley had already defeated De La Hoya for the WBC 147lbs title and gone on to make his first defence. He had bigger fish to fry, sulky Mayweather should have respected that, but instead he tailored it into an excuse later in his career in order to avoid Mosley.

Mayweather avoided Mosely as he did many other elite fighters. His arguement that he would not fight him because Mosley refused his challenge when he was a featherweight champ is simply rediculous, it was all smoke and mirrors, as has since been proven when Mayweather fought him as an old man.

[ALI]

A few fights back i dont think anyone would have taken this fight seriously, but now there is no doubt in my mind Khan is one of the biggest threats out there to Mayweather. His defence and his chin have improved so much over the last couple of years that i'm sure he's now ready for such a challenge. All he needs is a fight or two at 147lbs to get himself comfortable at the weight, then its on.

His defence and his chin are sound, i would not expect him to crumble early against Mayweather's pot shotting, it would be as the fight wears on Mayweather might start to dominate, or score a KO. The pace Khan fights at, his high workrate and his lightning quick attacks would prove a very big obsticle for Mayweather. On points, Khan would have a great chance.

Its hard to believe what i'm about to say, but i think if Khan keeps looking this good, Mayweather might not want any of it!

there was nothing "wrong" with his chin in the first place. You can improve your defence by practice but you don't give somebody credit in the same breath for "improving their chin". Many will people will happily read over that line and swallow it , but it's nonsense I'm afraid.

I agree saying that someone's chin has improved may be a bit misleading, i'd also agree that their is no real recipe for improving someone's chin, but you'd be a mad man not to acknowledge that the Khan at 140lbs has better whiskers than the weight drained Khan at 135lbs. The extra weight, and his conditioning with Ariza has helped improve his punch resistance, its a no brainer my friend.

Would you really argue otherwise?

[n1ebf]

A few fights back i dont think anyone would have taken this fight seriously, but now there is no doubt in my mind Khan is one of the biggest threats out there to Mayweather. His defence and his chin have improved so much over the last couple of years that i'm sure he's now ready for such a challenge. All he needs is a fight or two at 147lbs to get himself comfortable at the weight, then its on.

His defence and his chin are sound, i would not expect him to crumble early against Mayweather's pot shotting, it would be as the fight wears on Mayweather might start to dominate, or score a KO. The pace Khan fights at, his high workrate and his lightning quick attacks would prove a very big obsticle for Mayweather. On points, Khan would have a great chance.

Its hard to believe what i'm about to say, but i think if Khan keeps looking this good, Mayweather might not want any of it!

there was nothing "wrong" with his chin in the first place. You can improve your defence by practice but you don't give somebody credit in the same breath for "improving their chin". Many will people will happily read over that line and swallow it , but it's nonsense I'm afraid.

I agree saying that someone's chin has improved may be a bit misleading, i'd also agree that their is no real recipe for improving someone's chin, but you'd be a mad man not to acknowledge that the Khan at 140lbs has better whiskers than the weight drained Khan at 135lbs. The extra weight, and his conditioning with Ariza has helped improve his punch resistance.

Would you really argue otherwise?

a bit pushed for time here but i'll try. The (first round!!) big shots Prescott him him with would have KO'd anyone. Every other time he;'s been over he's got up and won. Watson in the AMS, Limond (stopped Limond in the next round ) , Gomez (stopped him soon after getting up too).
I'm not sure about the weight moves having much impact but against Maidana he proved what I'd been saying on here for years!

[ALI]

there was nothing "wrong" with his chin in the first place. You can improve your defence by practice but you don't give somebody credit in the same breath for "improving their chin". Many will people will happily read over that line and swallow it , but it's nonsense I'm afraid.

I agree saying that someone's chin has improved may be a bit misleading, i'd also agree that their is no real recipe for improving someone's chin, but you'd be a mad man not to acknowledge that the Khan at 140lbs has better whiskers than the weight drained Khan at 135lbs. The extra weight, and his conditioning with Ariza has helped improve his punch resistance.

Would you really argue otherwise?

a bit pushed for time here but i'll try. The (first round!!) big shots Prescott him him with would have KO'd anyone. Every other time he;'s been over he's got up and won. Watson in the AMS, Limond (stopped Limond in the next round ) , Gomez (stopped him soon after getting up too).
I'm not sure about the weight moves having much impact but against Maidana he proved what I'd been saying on here for years!

Forget Prescott, those bombs would have KO'd a horse.

Let me put it this way, its very unlikely that the feather fisted Limond would be able to wobble and drop the Khan of today. He was able to do so because he was weight drained, and did not have the legs to take those shots. The extra weight and conditioning has helped his punch resistance no end. Do you believe the Khan at 135lbs would have taken those bombs of Maidana, its very unlikely!

I propose this as a settler: you cant improve your chin, but you Khan improve your punch resistance

[History]

I would've thought the Maidana fight was evidence enough that Khan's chin is respectable these days. He took some genuinely big shots from a genuinely big puncher that night, and never went down. There were certainly moments when I feared he would, when his legs looked shaky, but he managed to keep his feet, and was even able to fire back accurately and coherently - which saved his bacon on at least one occasion, if you ask me, in terms of discouraging Maidana from coming forward. He still might not have the greatest chin, but I don't think he's at all glass jawed.

As others have pointed out, there's a world of difference between his punch resistance in that fight, and his punch resistance in the Limond fight. Whether that's the result of his natural growth/man strength Vs boy strength, being more suitably conditioned as a result of the knowledge and expertise of Roach and Ariza, or what, it certainly seems to be the case.

I now basically see the Prescott fight like an extreme version of Lewis-McCall and Lewis-Rahman. The better fighter getting caught with a freakish big shot, losing, but still being the better fighter all the same.

[ThereByTheGrace]

Mayweather KO - anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy mad mental.

Golden Boy will feed the number 2 to the top dog, all the UK will buy into the hype and wonder why we bothered after the fight is over.

Been there done it wore the t -shirt.

[Finn]

I like Khan's skills and he's getting better without question..

For me though - Mayweather is too big a task and would be Khan everytime for my money.

Unless Khan waits till Money is too old of course!

I said before that khan would give mayweather a good run for his money and its a winable fight for him. But the reality is mayweather is yet to get past ortiz - if he blows away ortiz i may have a diferent opinion on the matter but that looks like a tough fight to me.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I don't think he could beat Mayweather, Khan may a brilliant athlete but he's not a clever guy and he's not a clever fighter. He's a good combination puncher but not a creative one if you follow me. I remember thinking in several of his fights (some with Roach) that he seems to have a couple of set attacks/combinations and if they're not landing he keeps throwing them over and over again until a couple of rounds later he finally tries something else.
Because of this I don't think Mayweather would find it hard to frustrate him.

I agree Khan is not very adaptable, but with the hanspeed, and the new found footwork, he may not need to be.

I wonder just how much Mayweathers fighting heart beats these days, its just about money. He doesnt throw a lot of shots, but against Khan, that's a recipe for disaster.

I suspect Mayweather would have to work a lot harder than he has in some time to win. I can still remember the look on his face after the first two against Hatton, he wasn't enjoying the pressure one bit. Hatton's lack of speed meant he was able to start timing the charges and landing his own shots. Harder against Khan. Styles make fights, and Khan has the right style to give him problems.

[Bricks]

If Khan signs up for Mayweather now it will be the worst beating of his life. he needs 18 months than he will be ready

[TJ77]

If Khan signs up for Mayweather now it will be the worst beating of his life. he needs 18 months than he will be ready

Ready to end his career flat on his back

[Carbo]

I don't think he could beat Mayweather, Khan may a brilliant athlete but he's not a clever guy and he's not a clever fighter. He's a good combination puncher but not a creative one if you follow me. I remember thinking in several of his fights (some with Roach) that he seems to have a couple of set attacks/combinations and if they're not landing he keeps throwing them over and over again until a couple of rounds later he finally tries something else.
Because of this I don't think Mayweather would find it hard to frustrate him.

I agree Khan is not very adaptable, but with the hanspeed, and the new found footwork, he may not need to be.

I wonder just how much Mayweathers fighting heart beats these days, its just about money. He doesnt throw a lot of shots, but against Khan, that's a recipe for disaster.

I suspect Mayweather would have to work a lot harder than he has in some time to win. I can still remember the look on his face after the first two against Hatton, he wasn't enjoying the pressure one bit. Hatton's lack of speed meant he was able to start timing the charges and landing his own shots. Harder against Khan. Styles make fights, and Khan has the right style to give him problems.

Just to add something to what James has said here, I think that this might be an interesting case of styles make fights. Look, ever since the Castillo fights, everyone -- everyone -- has been saying that the way to beat Mayweather is to put pressure on him. "Keep throwing punches," they say. "He can't be hit by single shots, and the only way to catch him is with combinations," they argue. "Pressure him for 12 rounds and he can crack." But Mayweather actually deals with that type of fighter. He knows how to do it. OK, he's avoided the likes of Margarito who's combination of pressure fighting and size could have caused him problems, and the others he's fought -- Hatton, Baldomir, Gatti and Hernandez spring to mind -- have been a level or two below him. But it's not like he's had a single problem in any of those fights.

But does one really have to be short, squat, have Hispanic blood running through your veins and a left hook sculpted in Guadalajara to put pressure on a fighter? Not at all. There is more than one way to pressure a fighter. In fact, I think that Mayweather might have as many troubles with fast-handed fighters as he does with pressure fighters. Mosley, Dela Hoya and Judah all bothered him early, and, despite those stellar names, I think Khan is already better than all those guys at the time Mayweather fought them. Judah has the concentration and heart of a petulant 13 year old, and Mosley and Dela Hoya couldn't pull the trigger. Khan's not like that at all. In fact, he throws as many punches as anyone. He does "keep throwing punches", he does "throw combinations." He does "keep the pressure up for 12 rounds." He's not going to be fighting twitchy, like Mosley, or missing gaps he would have once poured through, like Dela Hoya. He's going to be leading, getting his punches off first and often and, yes, throwing them in threes and fours, not ones.

Mayweather is a very cautious fighter these days, who sharpshoots while making the other man fight his fight. He only opens up when he's utterly confident of victory, and has missed the chance for quite a few KOs in recent fights through caution. Khan won't let him fight at that pace. He'll be there, throwing 70-80 punches a round, pressuring Mayweather for three minutes of twelve rounds, and not plodding forward in straight lines, but in-out, left right, in-out, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

If Roach could devise a plan to take Mayweather's counter/lead right out of the game, I think it could be on.

But, let's be clear, Mayweather is an exceptional fighter, and at least one level above Khan at the moment. But the point is that Khan is still improving, and Mayweather is probably going slightly the other way. It's also a styles make fights thing.

[gizmo1]

I may not agree with everything but an excellent analysis nevertheless Carbo.

[JC]

Not sure what the success % was against Judah but he's had a low rate in other fights and lacks intelligence in his combination punching so you wouldn't peg him to find gaps in Floyd.

I think HBO had it in the low 20s

[Carbo]

I don't give Amir much of a chance in this one. Maybe he could hang in there for 1-3 and pick up some points but there's no point arguing that his use of 3-4s will shine through when he has possibly the worst accuracy rate of any top level fighter.

Khan throws a lot, misses a lot and I can't see him getting in with shots 3 or 4 against someone as defensively sound as Floyd. Not sure what the success % was against Judah but he's had a low rate in other fights and lacks intelligence in his combination punching so you wouldn't peg him to find gaps in Floyd.

I don't deny that Mayweather would be strong favourite, and that Floyd has the power and accuracy to knock Khan out (he stung DLH, who has an excellent chin), but Khan's not that inaccurate. He was against McCloskey, landing only 25% of punches, but against Maidana it was 45% overall (55% of power shots until the fateful tenth), 40% against the ostensibly slippery Malignaggi, but only 22% against Kotelnik.

So, I'm not sure it's a case of consistent inaccuracy. It appears to vary from opponent to opponent. Against Judah it was 21%. I would say that the low ones were against guys not really trying to win the fight -- as neither McCloskey not Judah were. Higher ones tend to come in fights which were live.

Either way, Khan consistently throws lots of punches, being over 55 per round on all those, and in some over 80. Missing isn't great, but it does mean the opponent can't throw, or else has to do so with the speed, accuracy and power to stop you and keep you off balance.

Floyd right now likes a slower pace.

I could easily imagine Khan could winning the first three rounds off the belt, meaning he'd only have to take three of the next nine to get a draw.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I don't think he could beat Mayweather, Khan may a brilliant athlete but he's not a clever guy and he's not a clever fighter. He's a good combination puncher but not a creative one if you follow me. I remember thinking in several of his fights (some with Roach) that he seems to have a couple of set attacks/combinations and if they're not landing he keeps throwing them over and over again until a couple of rounds later he finally tries something else.
Because of this I don't think Mayweather would find it hard to frustrate him.

I agree Khan is not very adaptable, but with the hanspeed, and the new found footwork, he may not need to be.

I wonder just how much Mayweathers fighting heart beats these days, its just about money. He doesnt throw a lot of shots, but against Khan, that's a recipe for disaster.

I suspect Mayweather would have to work a lot harder than he has in some time to win. I can still remember the look on his face after the first two against Hatton, he wasn't enjoying the pressure one bit. Hatton's lack of speed meant he was able to start timing the charges and landing his own shots. Harder against Khan. Styles make fights, and Khan has the right style to give him problems.

Just to add something to what James has said here, I think that this might be an interesting case of styles make fights. Look, ever since the Castillo fights, everyone -- everyone -- has been saying that the way to beat Mayweather is to put pressure on him. "Keep throwing punches," they say. "He can't be hit by single shots, and the only way to catch him is with combinations," they argue. "Pressure him for 12 rounds and he can crack." But Mayweather actually deals with that type of fighter. He knows how to do it. OK, he's avoided the likes of Margarito who's combination of pressure fighting and size could have caused him problems, and the others he's fought -- Hatton, Baldomir, Gatti and Hernandez spring to mind -- have been a level or two below him. But it's not like he's had a single problem in any of those fights.

But does one really have to be short, squat, have Hispanic blood running through your veins and a left hook sculpted in Guadalajara to put pressure on a fighter? Not at all. There is more than one way to pressure a fighter. In fact, I think that Mayweather might have as many troubles with fast-handed fighters as he does with pressure fighters. Mosley, Dela Hoya and Judah all bothered him early, and, despite those stellar names, I think Khan is already better than all those guys at the time Mayweather fought them. Judah has the concentration and heart of a petulant 13 year old, and Mosley and Dela Hoya couldn't pull the trigger. Khan's not like that at all. In fact, he throws as many punches as anyone. He does "keep throwing punches", he does "throw combinations." He does "keep the pressure up for 12 rounds." He's not going to be fighting twitchy, like Mosley, or missing gaps he would have once poured through, like Dela Hoya. He's going to be leading, getting his punches off first and often and, yes, throwing them in threes and fours, not ones.

Mayweather is a very cautious fighter these days, who sharpshoots while making the other man fight his fight. He only opens up when he's utterly confident of victory, and has missed the chance for quite a few KOs in recent fights through caution. Khan won't let him fight at that pace. He'll be there, throwing 70-80 punches a round, pressuring Mayweather for three minutes of twelve rounds, and not plodding forward in straight lines, but in-out, left right, in-out, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

If Roach could devise a plan to take Mayweather's counter/lead right out of the game, I think it could be on.

But, let's be clear, Mayweather is an exceptional fighter, and at least one level above Khan at the moment. But the point is that Khan is still improving, and Mayweather is probably going slightly the other way. It's also a styles make fights thing.

I wholeheartedly concur.

[Carbo]

I don't give Amir much of a chance in this one. Maybe he could hang in there for 1-3 and pick up some points but there's no point arguing that his use of 3-4s will shine through when he has possibly the worst accuracy rate of any top level fighter.

Khan throws a lot, misses a lot and I can't see him getting in with shots 3 or 4 against someone as defensively sound as Floyd. Not sure what the success % was against Judah but he's had a low rate in other fights and lacks intelligence in his combination punching so you wouldn't peg him to find gaps in Floyd.

I don't deny that Mayweather would be strong favourite, and that Floyd has the power and accuracy to knock Khan out (he stung DLH, who has an excellent chin), but Khan's not that inaccurate. He was against McCloskey, landing only 25% of punches, but against Maidana it was 45% overall (55% of power shots until the fateful tenth), 40% against the ostensibly slippery Malignaggi, but only 22% against Kotelnik.

So, I'm not sure it's a case of consistent inaccuracy. It appears to vary from opponent to opponent. Against Judah it was 21%. I would say that the low ones were against guys not really trying to win the fight -- as neither McCloskey not Judah were. Higher ones tend to come in fights which were live.

Either way, Khan consistently throws lots of punches, being over 55 per round on all those, and in some over 80. Missing isn't great, but it does mean the opponent can't throw, or else has to do so with the speed, accuracy and power to stop you and keep you off balance.

Floyd right now likes a slower pace.

I could easily imagine Khan could winning the first three rounds off the belt, meaning he'd only have to take three of the next nine to get a draw.

Disagree with your analysis of those stats. Look at his high % fights. Maidana is easier to hit than the g-spot on a 300lb pussy and Paulie gets lauded as a defensively decent fighter but he is pretty pedestrian in this department. I was there in Manchester when he got caught often by telegraphed shots, his movement is what keeps him at bay, similar to Khan in fact.

Take two fighters with a bit, and I mean a bit, of nous in McCloskey and Kotelnik and you have a very different story. He is terribly inaccurate, as proven by two fights against an EBU level guy, Paul, and a gatekeeper sort, Kotelnik. Two of the lowest came against southpaws and Floyd has switched stance well in some of his fights to deliver blows.

Khan is fact, his movement is his defence and he has a low boxing IQ. He'll be in it for three rounds tops, look like he's in it for longer and Floydis canny enough to let him do enough to warrant that lucrative rematch. Or Floyd may beat the tar from him to draw out Manny P.

Not writing Amir off, a lot depends on how Floyd looks next time out, but 50% of Floyd would beat any Khan you care to mention as I cannot see Amir making further improvements or tightening things up.

No one does Floyd let Amir win the first three, no chance, he'd stay with him, as I said, but not go 3-0 up.

Khan might have a low boxing IQ, but is that really what's needed against Floyd?

Also, as an analogy, when a fighter relies on, say, speed, to win fights, and then is no longer the fastest man in the ring, that fighter tends to struggle terribly. Equally, maybe someone who is accurate would struggle against Mayweather, because suddenly they're in against a guy who makes them miss all the time. If you look at Mayweather's stats, he always reduces an opponent's accuracy, as compared to his previous average, massively. So, perhaps the previously accurate puncher, made to miss by the defensive genius of Mayweather, finds himself in the position of the fighter who used to have the fastest hands but no longer does?

I think you have to just accept that you're not going to hit Mayweather with that high a percentage of your punches, and throw a lot of them to compensate for that. People have always, always made this point, but where in the past, they've assumed that it must be a squat, short-armed, come-forward pressure fighter, I say it could be Khan, because he's doing it already. And while he's popping out 70 punches a round, that's forcing the opponent to work. Mayweather doesn't really like that now, and I think that even if he won, he'd have a rocky first third of the fight trying to establish control.

Mayweather has a far, far better boxing brain than Khan. It's like comparing Isaac Newton's mathematical brain with mine. But then, Mayweather has a better boxing brain than anyone in the game, beyond perhaps Bernard Hopkins. And not only that, like Hopkins, his natural style lends itself of a man with a great boxing brain. Trying to out-think or out-sharpshoot Mayweather is like invading Russia in the winter.

Why take on your enemy at his strong point? The way to win is to minimize his strongest suit; to make the ability to out-think your opponent irrelevant. The way to do that is to make sure the fight is on your terms -- and Khan has the tools, throwing lots of punches with extremely quick hands and good footwork, to do that, in my view. If they could take Mayweather's right hand lead/counter out of the equation -- perhaps by spinning off to the right, or taking a step right, I don't know -- they have a chance, in my view.

[Ezzard]

I think it would be a close fight.

Basically, Floyd never rarely does more than just enough to win and that ability to turn it off and on is fine when you’re in your pomp…but it’s not as easy to do later on in a career. Zab and Oscar won 5 of 12 rounds against Floyd. Okay, not as convincingly as Floyd won his but even so…

Accuracy will be Floyd’s game plan. A sharp accurate counter can unravel Khan. But speed, energy and volume will be a cocktail Floyd will only sip at until he has no choice but to bolt it down.

I agree that Khan’s blizzards often scuff shoulders and cut thin air but if he can keep them quick and compact it’ll be hard for a defensive master to do anything other than defend – especially in the early rounds. As good as Floyd is he won’t want to fight at a fast pace and he won’t want to be trailing to a younger man going into the final stretch.

If you ask me to bet the house then I wouldn’t bet against Mayweather but I think Khan has a genuine chance to do a Honeyghan.

[Captain Hook]

Floyd, all day every day...

Khan is quality, and I'm one of the posters who's defended him from the start, but Mayweather is the best p4p since peak RJJ.....I don't think even Pacquiao could beat him.