AMIR KHAN....

[DavidPayne]

We may hate Khan for looking at Lightweights because his contemporaries look a little well, erm...contemporary but I wouldn't run from matches with Casamayor, Katsidas, Diaz or Marquez if they came on the screen.

However, other than Marquez - which is a push at this stage of his career - I don't think any merit PPV in my understanding of the forum or accolade the PPV is meant to be.

I think, as Hatton commented, that Marquez is the perfect next opponent for Khan, certainly a step on from the Morales name Roach was floating.

Of course the Bradley and Alexander fights have to happen when they're all eager, hungry and fresh.

The 140 division should be white-hot with the old-timers from 135 and the liks of Judah moving down.

[emma]

Wow shock horror! a devoted muslim is waiting until hes married before having sex.

the bit about 'my ideal girl is a size 8' made me laugh.

[bfchunk]

Perhaps his trainer is just worried about him risking his china winky.

[Nightmare Roy]

Fair play to him, he must have strong faith, if i was 23, rich and world famous, i'd be smashing the granny out of every chick that would let me.

[DavidPayne]

Fair play to him, he must have strong faith, if i was 23, rich and world famous, i'd be smashing the granny out of every chick that would let me.

Real strong faith....

[bennie]

The announcement this morning that Amir Khan is to fight the winner of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz return clash at lightweight later this month in Las Vegas came as a blow to those still waiting for the Bolton boy to risk his chin - to risk anything - in the two-year wake of his sub-one minute destruction at the hands of Breidis Prescott in Manchester in 2008. We all know the story: Khan went down twice, heavily, and looked so fragile that one wondered how he would ever recover. He recovered remarkably well, of course, brought back quickly and shrewdly with morale-boosting wins over Oisin Fagan and Marco Antonio Barrera, before trouncing Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA light-welterweight title and blowing away Dmitiry Salita in his first defence, although none of the four men were punchers like Prescott, who somewhat infuriatingly appeared on the same bill as Khan's 76-second dismissal of Salita. If only it were Khan outboxing the rangy Colombian that night and not Kevin Mitchell.
Then came Khan's decision to move to the States at a time when British promoter, F rank Warren, was lining him up here with Argentine puncher Marcos Maidana, although the thought of his competition in the States largely excited and diverted fans. Khan is steered out there, for all intents and purposes, by trainer Freddie Roach, an ex-fighter with Parkinson's Disease who believes that the punches he took late in his career caused his condition. Roach told Mike Tyson to retire after his surprise loss to Danny Williams and 'knows' when a fighter is through and when a fighter is vulnerable.
Roach was brought in to buoy and improve Khan after the Prescott disaster and would have had his say on Khan's comeback opponents and the very mention of Maidana proved the catalyst for Khan's defection to the US, where Khan has fought once: an 11-round turkey-shoot against the brave but non-punching Paulie Malignaggi in defence of his world title a couple of months ago in New York. As Khan showed in his comeback, he looks a million dollars against men who cannot hurt him.
Roach continues the cotton-wool treatment with today's downbeat announcement of Marquez or Diaz next up for Khan. The fleshy Diaz, dubbed "Baby Bull", was well-beaten by Malignaggi last December in Houston, on a night when Diaz came in at well under the light-welterweight limit (and to remind you, Diaz and Marquez go head to head at lightweight), and he is the bookies' favourite to topple the 36-year-old Marquez, who turned pro down at featherweight when Khan was all of six. Roach knows more than anyone that a good big 'un always beats a good little 'un. It was his move from super-featherweight to lightweight in his boxing days that saw him copping all those late head shots from the likes of Greg "Mutt" Haugen and Hector Camacho.
Roach must have a very good reason for looking down. Khan is a huge light-welterweight, a 23-year-old future welterweight, with masses of competition in his division, so why the pursuit of lightweights? For now he – and we - makes do with either Marquez or Diaz in December, but you wonder what the next year brings, or the year after that? You still wonder about that Khan jaw.

[tonyevs]

There is no mystery why he looks to fight lighter weight boxers ...
There is no mystery why he won`t fight big hitters ...


There is a mystery why gobbles tries to defend him so much though ...


emma - his ideal girl would have to be a size 8. What would that be? 8-9stone? Imagine a lovers tiff with a size 12 girl ... his chin would never take it...

[gobbles]

There is no mystery why he looks to fight lighter weight boxers ...
There is no mystery why he won`t fight big hitters ...


There is a mystery why gobbles tries to defend him so much though ...


emma - his ideal girl would have to be a size 8. What would that be? 8-9stone? Imagine a lovers tiff with a size 12 girl ... his chin would never take it...

Because if you managed a boxer who struggled with southpaws, you would make him fight only southpaws.

If you had a hot young prospect who had been knocked out, you would put him in with the biggest punchers you could find.

Here's how boxing works, tony, you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money.
If Khan beats Marquez top of the bill at somewhere like the Mandalay Bay, he suddenly becomes a big noise in America. Then when he fights an Alexander, or a Bradley, it is a big fight and not just one at some Indian reservation casino in the middle of nowhere, or one that has to come to Britain where no one has heard of Bradley or Alexander either (not that Shaw or King would let them fight in Britain anyway).
Why are you so obsessed with hating Khan? Why not attack Maidana for fighting Corley, or Ward for refusing to box outside his home town? Or Haye for calling out the Klitschkos and then looking to fight Audley?

[Spud]

Whoever Khan fights - I hope he gets stuffed.

[DavidPayne]

Whoever Khan fights - I hope he gets stuffed.

Yeh....get him in with Bernard Matthews. The WBO rank him at #13.

[tonyevs]

There is no mystery why he looks to fight lighter weight boxers ...
There is no mystery why he won`t fight big hitters ...


There is a mystery why gobbles tries to defend him so much though ...


emma - his ideal girl would have to be a size 8. What would that be? 8-9stone? Imagine a lovers tiff with a size 12 girl ... his chin would never take it...

Because if you managed a boxer who struggled with southpaws, you would make him fight only southpaws.

If you had a hot young prospect who had been knocked out, you would put him in with the biggest punchers you could find.



Here's how boxing works, tony, you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money.
If Khan beats Marquez top of the bill at somewhere like the Mandalay Bay, he suddenly becomes a big noise in America. Then when he fights an Alexander, or a Bradley, it is a big fight and not just one at some Indian reservation casino in the middle of nowhere, or one that has to come to Britain where no one has heard of Bradley or Alexander either (not that Shaw or King would let them fight in Britain anyway).
Why are you so obsessed with hating Khan? Why not attack Maidana for fighting Corley, or Ward for refusing to box outside his home town? Or Haye for calling out the Klitschkos and then looking to fight Audley?

thanks for that. So is you admitting Khans chin is poop after all? And he is hardly a prospect, cos he holds a world title.

Whatever happened to champions wanting to prove they were the best?

[bennie]

So, the day after the night before, what do we think of young Amir Khan? The once-beaten Bolton boy said after his recent win over feather-fisted Paul Malignaggi in the States he wants the big names in the light-welterweight division but then came yesterday's confirmation that he fights the winner of Juan Manuel Marquez against Juan Diaz on July 31 in Las Vegas, two leading lightweights. Khan faces one or the other on December 11, probably in the States.
Khan's critics, and a statue has never been raised to a critic, tell you he is still running away, still protecting his chin. His supporters tell you the 23-year-old is still building up to the big light-welterweight showdowns with Marcos Maidana, Tim Bradley or Devon Alexander, and Khan certainly enjoys the kind of backing most fighters can only imagine.
His loss to Breidis Prescott a couple of years ago in Manchester, inside a minute, saw his Cuban trainer sacked on the spot, to be replaced by the celebrated Freddie Roach, nurtured as a young trainer by Eddie Futch, he of the "nobody will forget what you did tonight" line, and when Marcos Maidana, a huge-punching Argentine was lined up to challenge Khan, the fighter jumped ship and joined Roach permanently in his Hollywood gym in Los Angeles, where Oscar De La Hoya snapped him up, a multi-millionaire ex-fighter expertly managed himself.
The decision to fight either Marquez or Diaz is clever, very clever. The stylish Marquez lacks natural power but went 12 rounds with Floyd Mayweather in his last outing, to lose widely on points, so if Khan were to stop him, and Marquez has never been stopped, it would make Khan look very good indeed, particularly as Manny Pacquiao twice really struggled with the Mexican.
As for Diaz, he goes by the nickname of "Baby Bull", a play on Tony Ayala's "Little Bull", but Diaz is no Ayala, arguably the biggest loss to the sport in its entire history. Ayala hunted down his opponents, pinning them in the corners and really hurting them. Diaz is aggressive but not a huge puncher - he wears down his opponents, not particularly successfully in recent fights. However, the Houston man holds a win over Michael Katsidis and immediately you sense another lightweight for Khan, on to a good thing in December all ways.
Over in the States, Khan doesn't give a damn what we think here, along with his backers, who are in it to make a profit. Are they cynical enough to continue protecting his chin for the rest of his career? They did with Patterson in the 1950s until Floyd finally broke away from Cus D'Amato and ran into Ali, Liston and the iron-jawed Jerry Quarry, twice each.
One of his supporters on the boxrec forum says: "…you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money", which is shrewdly said, but matches to suit Khan's chin? His opponents since Prescott have all lacked a punch and now he lines up smaller men and gets away with it because those men have a 'name'. No doubt Katsidis will come next, or Joel Casamayor, two men who crack at lightweight but, a weight up, against a boiled-down welterweight – no.
Don't get me wrong. Khan came back magnificently from Prescott in September 2008, winning the WBA light-welterweight title less than a year later from Andreas Kotelnik and defending it with an emphatic 11-round stoppage of Malignaggi two months ago. He boxes brilliantly, with handspeed of the Patterson variety, and always will against those who cannot hurt him. A particularly fast starter, Khan will jump on the slow-starting Marquez, if it’s him, in December.
Nevertheless, until Khan fights someone his own size, someone his own size who can dig, or is that too much to ask of a world champion, he just bores me.

[Autobarn]

There is no mystery why he looks to fight lighter weight boxers ...
There is no mystery why he won`t fight big hitters ...


There is a mystery why gobbles tries to defend him so much though ...


emma - his ideal girl would have to be a size 8. What would that be? 8-9stone? Imagine a lovers tiff with a size 12 girl ... his chin would never take it...

Because if you managed a boxer who struggled with southpaws, you would make him fight only southpaws.

If you had a hot young prospect who had been knocked out, you would put him in with the biggest punchers you could find.

Here's how boxing works, tony, you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money.
If Khan beats Marquez top of the bill at somewhere like the Mandalay Bay, he suddenly becomes a big noise in America. Then when he fights an Alexander, or a Bradley, it is a big fight and not just one at some Indian reservation casino in the middle of nowhere, or one that has to come to Britain where no one has heard of Bradley or Alexander either (not that Shaw or King would let them fight in Britain anyway).
Why are you so obsessed with hating Khan? Why not attack Maidana for fighting Corley, or Ward for refusing to box outside his home town? Or Haye for calling out the Klitschkos and then looking to fight Audley?

regarding the "indian reservation"- i believe it's near bradley's home town. someone has pointed this out already.

obviously khan is a name, and bradley is a hardcore fan fighter who has had to fight witter, holt, campbell and peterson - guys his own size, rival champs or fighters ranked above him - to get his TV date and respect. the badleys of the world have to do more, and the khans of the world can pick and choose - we all know this.

god knows what maidana has been up to, since his come out look at me win over still-hyped victor "the quitter" ortiz. but the ppl behind khan seemed to be having kittens about this fight, maidana having to sign a contract keeping him from challenging khan for a year or 3 fights.

khan fighting smaller guys and non puncher is less interesting, but as long as HBO are paying for it, it won't make any difference in the decision making process. we all know it's business, but khan must be on big money and no one can argue that he's not carefully matched, with big questions over his chin.

[orbtastic]

The announcement this morning that Amir Khan is to fight the winner of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz return clash at lightweight later this month in Las Vegas came as a blow to those still waiting for the Bolton boy to risk his chin - to risk anything - in the two-year wake of his sub-one minute destruction at the hands of Breidis Prescott in Manchester in 2008. We all know the story: Khan went down twice, heavily, and looked so fragile that one wondered how he would ever recover. He recovered remarkably well, of course, brought back quickly and shrewdly with morale-boosting wins over Oisin Fagan and Marco Antonio Barrera, before trouncing Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA light-welterweight title and blowing away Dmitiry Salita in his first defence, although none of the four men were punchers like Prescott, who somewhat infuriatingly appeared on the same bill as Khan's 76-second dismissal of Salita. If only it were Khan outboxing the rangy Colombian that night and not Kevin Mitchell.
Then came Khan's decision to move to the States at a time when British promoter, F rank Warren, was lining him up here with Argentine puncher Marcos Maidana, although the thought of his competition in the States largely excited and diverted fans. Khan is steered out there, for all intents and purposes, by trainer Freddie Roach, an ex-fighter with Parkinson's Disease who believes that the punches he took late in his career caused his condition. Roach told Mike Tyson to retire after his surprise loss to Danny Williams and 'knows' when a fighter is through and when a fighter is vulnerable.
Roach was brought in to buoy and improve Khan after the Prescott disaster and would have had his say on Khan's comeback opponents and the very mention of Maidana proved the catalyst for Khan's defection to the US, where Khan has fought once: an 11-round turkey-shoot against the brave but non-punching Paulie Malignaggi in defence of his world title a couple of months ago in New York. As Khan showed in his comeback, he looks a million dollars against men who cannot hurt him.
Roach continues the cotton-wool treatment with today's downbeat announcement of Marquez or Diaz next up for Khan. The fleshy Diaz, dubbed "Baby Bull", was well-beaten by Malignaggi last December in Houston, on a night when Diaz came in at well under the light-welterweight limit (and to remind you, Diaz and Marquez go head to head at lightweight), and he is the bookies' favourite to topple the 36-year-old Marquez, who turned pro down at featherweight when Khan was all of six. Roach knows more than anyone that a good big 'un always beats a good little 'un. It was his move from super-featherweight to lightweight in his boxing days that saw him copping all those late head shots from the likes of Greg "Mutt" Haugen and Hector Camacho.
Roach must have a very good reason for looking down. Khan is a huge light-welterweight, a 23-year-old future welterweight, with masses of competition in his division, so why the pursuit of lightweights? For now he – and we - makes do with either Marquez or Diaz in December, but you wonder what the next year brings, or the year after that? You still wonder about that Khan jaw.

They are looking for names with low risk attached to them.

While there is risk associated with Marquez, he's showing signs of decline and is way above his real fighting weight and has changed his style somewhat (can be evidenced clearly in his face). Khan would have a substantial size/height/reach/speed advantage.

Should this fight go ahead, expect Khan to breathlessly talk about beating "legends" blah blah and look for another name like Casamayor that is past his best and fighting well beyond his natural fighting weight, rather than take on a high risk, low reward genuine light welter like Alexander or Bradley.

I personally think Alexander would banjo Khan into next week. They know that, we know that, he knows that. HBO know that, GBP know that. Roach knows that. They are just marketing brand Khan and protecting their interest. Two high profile derailments might mean the train needs to be retired.

[gobbles]

The announcement this morning that Amir Khan is to fight the winner of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz return clash at lightweight later this month in Las Vegas came as a blow to those still waiting for the Bolton boy to risk his chin - to risk anything - in the two-year wake of his sub-one minute destruction at the hands of Breidis Prescott in Manchester in 2008. We all know the story: Khan went down twice, heavily, and looked so fragile that one wondered how he would ever recover. He recovered remarkably well, of course, brought back quickly and shrewdly with morale-boosting wins over Oisin Fagan and Marco Antonio Barrera, before trouncing Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA light-welterweight title and blowing away Dmitiry Salita in his first defence, although none of the four men were punchers like Prescott, who somewhat infuriatingly appeared on the same bill as Khan's 76-second dismissal of Salita. If only it were Khan outboxing the rangy Colombian that night and not Kevin Mitchell.
Then came Khan's decision to move to the States at a time when British promoter, F rank Warren, was lining him up here with Argentine puncher Marcos Maidana, although the thought of his competition in the States largely excited and diverted fans. Khan is steered out there, for all intents and purposes, by trainer Freddie Roach, an ex-fighter with Parkinson's Disease who believes that the punches he took late in his career caused his condition. Roach told Mike Tyson to retire after his surprise loss to Danny Williams and 'knows' when a fighter is through and when a fighter is vulnerable.
Roach was brought in to buoy and improve Khan after the Prescott disaster and would have had his say on Khan's comeback opponents and the very mention of Maidana proved the catalyst for Khan's defection to the US, where Khan has fought once: an 11-round turkey-shoot against the brave but non-punching Paulie Malignaggi in defence of his world title a couple of months ago in New York. As Khan showed in his comeback, he looks a million dollars against men who cannot hurt him.
Roach continues the cotton-wool treatment with today's downbeat announcement of Marquez or Diaz next up for Khan. The fleshy Diaz, dubbed "Baby Bull", was well-beaten by Malignaggi last December in Houston, on a night when Diaz came in at well under the light-welterweight limit (and to remind you, Diaz and Marquez go head to head at lightweight), and he is the bookies' favourite to topple the 36-year-old Marquez, who turned pro down at featherweight when Khan was all of six. Roach knows more than anyone that a good big 'un always beats a good little 'un. It was his move from super-featherweight to lightweight in his boxing days that saw him copping all those late head shots from the likes of Greg "Mutt" Haugen and Hector Camacho.
Roach must have a very good reason for looking down. Khan is a huge light-welterweight, a 23-year-old future welterweight, with masses of competition in his division, so why the pursuit of lightweights? For now he – and we - makes do with either Marquez or Diaz in December, but you wonder what the next year brings, or the year after that? You still wonder about that Khan jaw.

They are looking for names with low risk attached to them.

While there is risk associated with Marquez, he's showing signs of decline and is way above his real fighting weight and has changed his style somewhat (can be evidenced clearly in his face). Khan would have a substantial size/height/reach/speed advantage.

Should this fight go ahead, expect Khan to breathlessly talk about beating "legends" blah blah and look for another name like Casamayor that is past his best and fighting well beyond his natural fighting weight, rather than take on a high risk, low reward genuine light welter like Alexander or Bradley.

I personally think Alexander would banjo Khan into next week. They know that, we know that, he knows that. HBO know that, GBP know that. Roach knows that. They are just marketing brand Khan and protecting their interest. Two high profile derailments might mean the train needs to be retired.

So why is Alexander fighting a guy who won one round against Khan?

[gobbles]

There is no mystery why he looks to fight lighter weight boxers ...
There is no mystery why he won`t fight big hitters ...


There is a mystery why gobbles tries to defend him so much though ...


emma - his ideal girl would have to be a size 8. What would that be? 8-9stone? Imagine a lovers tiff with a size 12 girl ... his chin would never take it...

Because if you managed a boxer who struggled with southpaws, you would make him fight only southpaws.

If you had a hot young prospect who had been knocked out, you would put him in with the biggest punchers you could find.

Here's how boxing works, tony, you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money.
If Khan beats Marquez top of the bill at somewhere like the Mandalay Bay, he suddenly becomes a big noise in America. Then when he fights an Alexander, or a Bradley, it is a big fight and not just one at some Indian reservation casino in the middle of nowhere, or one that has to come to Britain where no one has heard of Bradley or Alexander either (not that Shaw or King would let them fight in Britain anyway).
Why are you so obsessed with hating Khan? Why not attack Maidana for fighting Corley, or Ward for refusing to box outside his home town? Or Haye for calling out the Klitschkos and then looking to fight Audley?

regarding the "indian reservation"- i believe it's near bradley's home town. someone has pointed this out already.

obviously khan is a name, and bradley is a hardcore fan fighter who has had to fight witter, holt, campbell and peterson - guys his own size, rival champs or fighters ranked above him - to get his TV date and respect. the badleys of the world have to do more, and the khans of the world can pick and choose - we all know this.

god knows what maidana has been up to, since his come out look at me win over still-hyped victor "the quitter" ortiz. but the ppl behind khan seemed to be having kittens about this fight, maidana having to sign a contract keeping him from challenging khan for a year or 3 fights.

khan fighting smaller guys and non puncher is less interesting, but as long as HBO are paying for it, it won't make any difference in the decision making process. we all know it's business, but khan must be on big money and no one can argue that he's not carefully matched, with big questions over his chin.

Bradley can't pull a crowd. Yes, the Agua Caliente, is near Palm Springs, but so what? He pulled in 2,400 fans there - that's the sort of crowd that turns up for an average Friday Night Fights at a leisure centre.

Shaw was happy for him to fight Witter in Britain and Castillo in Mexico, because he was no draw. And he fought Kendall Holt, an American, in Canada.

I think it said in Boxing News today, the only boxers who say they will fight anyone are ones who don't have other options.

And didn't Maidana say that he had no contract with Golden Boy, so the claim that he signed a deal to stay away from Khan is fantasy.

[orbtastic]

I don't know? I was amazed to see that fight being made/sanctioned and surprised to see AK hasn't fought since losing to Khan...and amazed it's at 140 given that AK struggle to make 140 for Khan and hasn't fought since.

Why did Bradley fight a welterweight?

why has Maidana gone completely off the radar?

why have the 3 of them not managed to make/agree/sign a fight between them, despite it being discussed ad nauseam in the boxing press?

Why's Khan looking at name fighters that are light punching and have no form at 140-147?

simple answer to all those questions - That's boxing.

Why can't they [excluding Khan] get "the fights"? - Answer to that is because they have no fans, profile or name. They are substance over flash, the likes of GBP are not really that interested in them, neither are HBO.

[tonyevs]

Because if you managed a boxer who struggled with southpaws, you would make him fight only southpaws.

If you had a hot young prospect who had been knocked out, you would put him in with the biggest punchers you could find.

Here's how boxing works, tony, you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money.
If Khan beats Marquez top of the bill at somewhere like the Mandalay Bay, he suddenly becomes a big noise in America. Then when he fights an Alexander, or a Bradley, it is a big fight and not just one at some Indian reservation casino in the middle of nowhere, or one that has to come to Britain where no one has heard of Bradley or Alexander either (not that Shaw or King would let them fight in Britain anyway).
Why are you so obsessed with hating Khan? Why not attack Maidana for fighting Corley, or Ward for refusing to box outside his home town? Or Haye for calling out the Klitschkos and then looking to fight Audley?

regarding the "indian reservation"- i believe it's near bradley's home town. someone has pointed this out already.

obviously khan is a name, and bradley is a hardcore fan fighter who has had to fight witter, holt, campbell and peterson - guys his own size, rival champs or fighters ranked above him - to get his TV date and respect. the badleys of the world have to do more, and the khans of the world can pick and choose - we all know this.

god knows what maidana has been up to, since his come out look at me win over still-hyped victor "the quitter" ortiz. but the ppl behind khan seemed to be having kittens about this fight, maidana having to sign a contract keeping him from challenging khan for a year or 3 fights.

khan fighting smaller guys and non puncher is less interesting, but as long as HBO are paying for it, it won't make any difference in the decision making process. we all know it's business, but khan must be on big money and no one can argue that he's not carefully matched, with big questions over his chin.

Bradley can't pull a crowd. Yes, the Agua Caliente, is near Palm Springs, but so what? He pulled in 2,400 fans there - that's the sort of crowd that turns up for an average Friday Night Fights at a leisure centre.

Shaw was happy for him to fight Witter in Britain and Castillo in Mexico, because he was no draw. And he fought Kendall Holt, an American, in Canada.

I think it said in Boxing News today, the only boxers who say they will fight anyone are ones who don't have other options.

And didn't Maidana say that he had no contract with Golden Boy, so the claim that he signed a deal to stay away from Khan is fantasy.

gobbles - you really are out there on your own mate ....

[Autobarn]

Because if you managed a boxer who struggled with southpaws, you would make him fight only southpaws.

If you had a hot young prospect who had been knocked out, you would put him in with the biggest punchers you could find.

Here's how boxing works, tony, you try to get the matches to suit your boxer's style and you try to get matches at the time best suited to make the most possible money.
If Khan beats Marquez top of the bill at somewhere like the Mandalay Bay, he suddenly becomes a big noise in America. Then when he fights an Alexander, or a Bradley, it is a big fight and not just one at some Indian reservation casino in the middle of nowhere, or one that has to come to Britain where no one has heard of Bradley or Alexander either (not that Shaw or King would let them fight in Britain anyway).
Why are you so obsessed with hating Khan? Why not attack Maidana for fighting Corley, or Ward for refusing to box outside his home town? Or Haye for calling out the Klitschkos and then looking to fight Audley?

regarding the "indian reservation"- i believe it's near bradley's home town. someone has pointed this out already.

obviously khan is a name, and bradley is a hardcore fan fighter who has had to fight witter, holt, campbell and peterson - guys his own size, rival champs or fighters ranked above him - to get his TV date and respect. the badleys of the world have to do more, and the khans of the world can pick and choose - we all know this.

god knows what maidana has been up to, since his come out look at me win over still-hyped victor "the quitter" ortiz. but the ppl behind khan seemed to be having kittens about this fight, maidana having to sign a contract keeping him from challenging khan for a year or 3 fights.

khan fighting smaller guys and non puncher is less interesting, but as long as HBO are paying for it, it won't make any difference in the decision making process. we all know it's business, but khan must be on big money and no one can argue that he's not carefully matched, with big questions over his chin.

Bradley can't pull a crowd. Yes, the Agua Caliente, is near Palm Springs, but so what? He pulled in 2,400 fans there - that's the sort of crowd that turns up for an average Friday Night Fights at a leisure centre.

Shaw was happy for him to fight Witter in Britain and Castillo in Mexico, because he was no draw. And he fought Kendall Holt, an American, in Canada.

I think it said in Boxing News today, the only boxers who say they will fight anyone are ones who don't have other options.

And didn't Maidana say that he had no contract with Golden Boy, so the claim that he signed a deal to stay away from Khan is fantasy.

i didn't dispute that bradley isn't a big pull. but there is also the local aspect which needed pointing out. how many ppl in america pull big crowds, apart from adamek and some of the crowd-pleasing mexicans and mexcian-americans, and the one or 2 genuine superstars like mayweather and pac?

bradley clearly does alright. he's one of the have-nots, whereas khan is one of the haves. what he lacks in talent he makes up for in aggression and work ethic, and this has got him plenty of premium TV dates.

it was being reported on boxing websites about the options that golden boy had on maidana, keeping him away from khan. i know he's had recent trouble, pulling out of fights (vs badley himself) and disputing contracts. it's worked out well for khan, with maidana's fall from grace. now ppl like yourself can say it's maidana who was ducking, after all. khan IS being kept away from punchers, he IS being matched with care, and he won't fight a badley or alexander (who blew out iron chinned urango) unless they show signs of decline or fall out of favour with paymasters HBO and are forced to come to khan. no one's saying this isn't sound business, no oe's saying it's going to harm kahn as an attraction. but it does spoil the entertainment somewhat for myself, a long time poster who isn't particularly taken with any of the 140-pound fighters.

certainly, less popular fighters have to do more. the likes of bardley have to fight someone their own size and their own age, to get the TV date. khn doesn't, but i'd like to see him do something more ambitious given the position of privilege he's in.

[Autobarn]

The announcement this morning that Amir Khan is to fight the winner of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz return clash at lightweight later this month in Las Vegas came as a blow to those still waiting for the Bolton boy to risk his chin - to risk anything - in the two-year wake of his sub-one minute destruction at the hands of Breidis Prescott in Manchester in 2008. We all know the story: Khan went down twice, heavily, and looked so fragile that one wondered how he would ever recover. He recovered remarkably well, of course, brought back quickly and shrewdly with morale-boosting wins over Oisin Fagan and Marco Antonio Barrera, before trouncing Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA light-welterweight title and blowing away Dmitiry Salita in his first defence, although none of the four men were punchers like Prescott, who somewhat infuriatingly appeared on the same bill as Khan's 76-second dismissal of Salita. If only it were Khan outboxing the rangy Colombian that night and not Kevin Mitchell.
Then came Khan's decision to move to the States at a time when British promoter, F rank Warren, was lining him up here with Argentine puncher Marcos Maidana, although the thought of his competition in the States largely excited and diverted fans. Khan is steered out there, for all intents and purposes, by trainer Freddie Roach, an ex-fighter with Parkinson's Disease who believes that the punches he took late in his career caused his condition. Roach told Mike Tyson to retire after his surprise loss to Danny Williams and 'knows' when a fighter is through and when a fighter is vulnerable.
Roach was brought in to buoy and improve Khan after the Prescott disaster and would have had his say on Khan's comeback opponents and the very mention of Maidana proved the catalyst for Khan's defection to the US, where Khan has fought once: an 11-round turkey-shoot against the brave but non-punching Paulie Malignaggi in defence of his world title a couple of months ago in New York. As Khan showed in his comeback, he looks a million dollars against men who cannot hurt him.
Roach continues the cotton-wool treatment with today's downbeat announcement of Marquez or Diaz next up for Khan. The fleshy Diaz, dubbed "Baby Bull", was well-beaten by Malignaggi last December in Houston, on a night when Diaz came in at well under the light-welterweight limit (and to remind you, Diaz and Marquez go head to head at lightweight), and he is the bookies' favourite to topple the 36-year-old Marquez, who turned pro down at featherweight when Khan was all of six. Roach knows more than anyone that a good big 'un always beats a good little 'un. It was his move from super-featherweight to lightweight in his boxing days that saw him copping all those late head shots from the likes of Greg "Mutt" Haugen and Hector Camacho.
Roach must have a very good reason for looking down. Khan is a huge light-welterweight, a 23-year-old future welterweight, with masses of competition in his division, so why the pursuit of lightweights? For now he – and we - makes do with either Marquez or Diaz in December, but you wonder what the next year brings, or the year after that? You still wonder about that Khan jaw.

They are looking for names with low risk attached to them.

While there is risk associated with Marquez, he's showing signs of decline and is way above his real fighting weight and has changed his style somewhat (can be evidenced clearly in his face). Khan would have a substantial size/height/reach/speed advantage.

Should this fight go ahead, expect Khan to breathlessly talk about beating "legends" blah blah and look for another name like Casamayor that is past his best and fighting well beyond his natural fighting weight, rather than take on a high risk, low reward genuine light welter like Alexander or Bradley.

I personally think Alexander would banjo Khan into next week. They know that, we know that, he knows that. HBO know that, GBP know that. Roach knows that. They are just marketing brand Khan and protecting their interest. Two high profile derailments might mean the train needs to be retired.

So why is Alexander fighting a guy who won one round against Khan?

how many ppl want to fight a slick southpaw who 1 punch KO'd urango?

i doubt bradley fancies this, never mind khan. HBO must have OK'd kotelnik, and alexander won't turn his nose up at te TV date.

despite 140 being the "hottest weight in boxing", these guys won't fight each other so they'll end up takingon each other's opponents and other semi dangerous fringe guys.

alexander wants bradley. bradley wants khan. khan obviously has options and will choose carefully, with the right fight at the right time.

the only way is see this boring pattern breaking is if bradley continues up at 147, where he debuted recently, vs WBC champ andre berto.

[orbtastic]

I can't remember the exact quote from Roach about Khan facing Maidana, but it was something along the lines of "he's not ready yet"....but he's ready for someone with 10 times the boxing brain and 2-3 times his ring-smarts and somewhere between 5-10 times the experience? I don't quite follow the logic.

[gobbles]

regarding the "indian reservation"- i believe it's near bradley's home town. someone has pointed this out already.

obviously khan is a name, and bradley is a hardcore fan fighter who has had to fight witter, holt, campbell and peterson - guys his own size, rival champs or fighters ranked above him - to get his TV date and respect. the badleys of the world have to do more, and the khans of the world can pick and choose - we all know this.

god knows what maidana has been up to, since his come out look at me win over still-hyped victor "the quitter" ortiz. but the ppl behind khan seemed to be having kittens about this fight, maidana having to sign a contract keeping him from challenging khan for a year or 3 fights.

khan fighting smaller guys and non puncher is less interesting, but as long as HBO are paying for it, it won't make any difference in the decision making process. we all know it's business, but khan must be on big money and no one can argue that he's not carefully matched, with big questions over his chin.

Bradley can't pull a crowd. Yes, the Agua Caliente, is near Palm Springs, but so what? He pulled in 2,400 fans there - that's the sort of crowd that turns up for an average Friday Night Fights at a leisure centre.

Shaw was happy for him to fight Witter in Britain and Castillo in Mexico, because he was no draw. And he fought Kendall Holt, an American, in Canada.

I think it said in Boxing News today, the only boxers who say they will fight anyone are ones who don't have other options.

And didn't Maidana say that he had no contract with Golden Boy, so the claim that he signed a deal to stay away from Khan is fantasy.

i didn't dispute that bradley isn't a big pull. but there is also the local aspect which needed pointing out. how many ppl in america pull big crowds, apart from adamek and some of the crowd-pleasing mexicans and mexcian-americans, and the one or 2 genuine superstars like mayweather and pac?

bradley clearly does alright. he's one of the have-nots, whereas khan is one of the haves. what he lacks in talent he makes up for in aggression and work ethic, and this has got him plenty of premium TV dates.

it was being reported on boxing websites about the options that golden boy had on maidana, keeping him away from khan. i know he's had recent trouble, pulling out of fights (vs badley himself) and disputing contracts. it's worked out well for khan, with maidana's fall from grace. now ppl like yourself can say it's maidana who was ducking, after all. khan IS being kept away from punchers, he IS being matched with care, and he won't fight a badley or alexander (who blew out iron chinned urango) unless they show signs of decline or fall out of favour with paymasters HBO and are forced to come to khan. no one's saying this isn't sound business, no oe's saying it's going to harm kahn as an attraction. but it does spoil the entertainment somewhat for myself, a long time poster who isn't particularly taken with any of the 140-pound fighters.

certainly, less popular fighters have to do more. the likes of bardley have to fight someone their own size and their own age, to get the TV date. khn doesn't, but i'd like to see him do something more ambitious given the position of privilege he's in.

I don't deny that Khan is being kept away from bangers - what I don't see is why that is such a big crime and why is Khan constantly criticised for doing the same thing others do. If we are having the same argument in 2 years and he still hasn't boxed Maidana, or Alexander, or Bradley and they are all still up there, but that's another matter.
Looking at Khan's career, he won the title, beat his mandatory and in the next year he faces Malignaggi and maybe Marquez, what's wrong with that?

[Autobarn]

i don't think it's a crime. i'm not going to hold it against him, as he's still successful.

but he reminds me of my next door neighbours at a rooms for rent house. a pint sized lad only just out of his teens went out, and when he got back someone ate his beefburgers.

a big, middle aged housemate then tried to batter him, for accusing him of taking the beefburgers and for talking too loudly to him.

the lad says, "why don't you pick on someone your own size and your own age." though the analogy needs pushing and twisting somewhat, i have a feeling ppl could put this question to khan - maybe even still in 2 years' time. perhaps some megafight will come along, something very tempting for very big money.

it does seem doubtful that amir kahn will come undone by any thret that we can see coming. however, sometimes surprises happen, sometimes seemingly average or unknown fighters can step up and show something when you least expect it (case in point: prescott). in boxing sometimes i think it can be best to go for the dangerous fight, because there is a better chance of fighting up to the occasion, and having that extra special preparation and maybe showing something extra, that we've not seen from the kid before. there is just a very, very planned feel to khan's career and for me it drains away some of the drama.

obviously boxing isn't perfect. a guy like sergio martinez has to fight cintron, williams, pavlik and probably williams again (!) to get the TV date. i admre how martnez has delivered, he has surprised me a great deal. but i feel now he should be aable to choose an opponent who can flatter him just a little bit - like angulo. but no, HBo insist on paul williams...on the other end, you have a fighter like khan, who is allowed to fight less threatening guys (smaller, older of with no punch) for the TV date. it would be better if you could get a bit of each with all the top fighters but this is boxing.

[s-t]

I can't remember the exact quote from Roach about Khan facing Maidana, but it was something along the lines of "he's not ready yet"....but he's ready for someone with 10 times the boxing brain and 2-3 times his ring-smarts and somewhere between 5-10 times the experience? I don't quite follow the logic.

i think he said it was high risk for a low reward

[Autobarn]

i think HBO were too abrupt grabbing the big three light welters.

now that they all have an HBO earner, they will want so much more money to risk their titles vs each other.

so we end up with khan vs the lightweight champ
alexander vs kotelnik, already outclassed by khan
and badley without an opponent, as yet (won't be WBC welter champ andre berto, who seems to have got mosley) - ortiz would be good but you know that won't happen. campbell? urango?