BoxRec

MachoMan09 wrote:whatashambles, put yourself in the shoes of a sports editor for a national newspaper. Do you run with: Khan Ready For Bradley or Khan Ready For Mayweather?

He ain't ready for Mayweather though, nowhere near.
Darren Fletcher had a good game for United tonight, are they saying he's one of the best in the world all of a sudden? No he had a good game but that's it. Khan had a good win but he's not suddenly ready to take on one of the greatest, if not the greatest, fighters of the decade. He lost five rounds on two cards and six on the other, how is he suddenly ready for a guy that took every round bar one of two against Mosley, Marquez and Hatton.
There should be a little bit of judgement, it's the same with the national football team, they get a story and run riot with it.

Exactly. Khan has a style I think could work against Floyd, but he's not experienced enough to make it work at the moment.

Glyn Leach wrote:

hurlock wrote:you seriously over rate khan :!: he has the speed to trouble anyone, but his last performance has shown how hard it is going to be for him keeping that belt & you give him a chance against unbeaten fighters who have won at 5-8 diffrent weight's which is absolutely amazing :!:

Just one match where I think Khan's style might work hurlock. I'm not convinced he could pull it off, believe me, but I think that a mobile, fast, busy, in-and-out style built around a solid jab could cause Floyd problems at this stage in his career. Note: I have only ever said I fancied Khan's style against Mayweather, I've never said I think Khan beats him. In the mag, on this site, I've always been careful how I word it. Having the style is halfway there, but Khan needs to show me a lot more before I'd talk in terms of him winning. And the fighter who got drawn into Maidana's fight to the degree Khan did could no way beat Mayweather, I agree 100% mate.

i have thought similar in the sense of speed & being fleetfooted plus he's new ice skating tactics. but mayweather has shown he can come fwd & attack, he wouldnt lean back & let amir fire no way & at welter a precision puncher like mayweather would cruelly punish khan.

Most likely mate. I was surprised with the difficulty Floyd had coping with Oscar's handspeed at points in their fight, that makes me think a style like Khan's could be effective. But Khan needs to be able to put it all together and, as you said, be naturally big enough to pull it off and I don't think he ticks those boxes yet.

SG, I think people are looking at their records rather than their styles - which is not to say they're wrong to do so because Khan's relative inexperience compared to Mayweather is a major major factor. If you look at it style vs style, I think Khan matches up quite well. But obviously there's a lot more to it than that.

I really don't see how Khan could beat Mayweather.

Khan's heart and desire impressed me hugely on Saturday night but he was easy to hit and Maidana seemed to brush off the majority of his attacks.

I think Khan paced himself horribly too as his workrate deterred massively in th second half of the fight.

All media talk of Khan being ready for Mayweather is just clueless, unwarranted, patriotic hype.

He'll never stand a chance of beating Floyd while he keeps making elementary errors, such as circling left onto Maidana's big right in round 10. His focus still goes in fights I think. He's put in a couple of very disciplined performances since joining Roach, but on Saturday he showed that he still hasn't got that part of his game nailed yet.

I certainly wouldn't rush into a fight with Floyd were I Khan. I do like his style, at it's very best, against Mayweather. But he would need to be absolutely 100% in every area and he's a way off being able to do that at the moment. His main problem, to me, is still discipline in the fight itself - the ability to hold himself together and put everything into practice. That rather than his supposed weak chin has always been Khan's major weakness IMO.

Too many concentration lapses at the moment. Watching himself on TV, wtf?

christ, now it's khan v mayweather. khan looked horribly upright to me and mayweather would take him to pieces.
if a C level fighter like maidana gives him all the trouble in the world then it's a ridiculous leap of faith to think of beating - or even going on with - floyd.

whatashambles wrote:Why is it that the British press regularly hype up our fighters to completely unreasonable levels.
Reading today that Khan is ready for Mayweather, that Hatton was going to beat Mayweather, etc.
That Khan is ready for Mayweather is absolutely ludicrous, he only just got past Maidana, a good but limited fighter. Suddenly he's ready for the pound for pound best fighter?

I don't think and more and more people also agree that Mayweather isn't pound for pound but I do take your point about Khan not being ready but come the end of next year he might be and I have the viewpoint that its better for the press to hype up boxers rather than not reporting at all.

No matter how impressed I was with Khan on Saturday I'm not a massive fan of his but I still believe that we need someone who is very talented to be a boxing superstar and if that's Khan then fair play, if he loses to Mayweather he will gain respect for taking on on of the very best if he wins then he will become a mega star and I have no doubt that boxing will be big again in this country.

Lets face it not too many people complained when the British press hyped up Bruno or Hatton so why should it be any different for Khan?

Selling newspapers>Not selling newspapers

'Khan shows weaknesses that may be exploited by Bradley' isn't a great headline. How much of the public follow the sport in detail, maybe 1 in 1000? Do many even know who Bradley or Alexander are?

Scottrf wrote:Selling newspapers>Not selling newspapers

'Khan shows weaknesses that may be exploited by Bradley' isn't a great headline. How much of the public follow the sport in detail, maybe 1 in 1000? Do many even know who Bradley or Alexander are?

Do the football writers who turn out to cover big fights even know who Bradley and Alexander are?

I remember at the Trent Arena a couple of years back when Junior Witter was fighting Bradley, one these "national" reporters asked me "what's this Julian Witter like?".

whatashambles wrote:Why is it that the British press regularly hype up our fighters to completely unreasonable levels.
Reading today that Khan is ready for Mayweather, that Hatton was going to beat Mayweather, etc.
That Khan is ready for Mayweather is absolutely ludicrous, he only just got past Maidana, a good but limited fighter. Suddenly he's ready for the pound for pound best fighter?

the reason is most "british boxing writers" know very little about boxing!

colin hart is the last of the old brigade of unqualified heavy drinkers who write a short little tabloid article but know very little . it grates the way hart passes himself off as some great british boxing historian.

steve bunce and the dedicated boxing publication writers like tris dixon who dont write for newspapers are a eminently more knowledgable bunch and its scandolous the broadhsheets dont get a guy like dixon on board or the other guys writing in boxing monthly.

sadly the long and great days of great writers gravitating to boxing like hemingway, mailer,oates and the days of great journalists like harry carpenter and hugh mcillvanny being boxing writers are gone forever maybe. the best writing on boxing in britain is found among a select few internet posters these days

mugabi wrote: sadly the long and great days of great writers gravitating to boxing like hemingway, mailer,oates and the days of great journalists like harry carpenter and hugh mcillvanny being boxing writers are gone forever maybe. the best writing on boxing in britain is found among a select few internet posters these days

Absolutley spot on as usual Mugabi.

Last thing the people who run the media is anything to do with boxing. If you can write about golf or tennis then you are laughing but boxing? If they could ban it from our screens then they would in my opinion. Whose to say in 20 years time there will be no boxing on tv?

mugabi wrote: the best writing on boxing in britain is found among a select few internet posters these days

Thanks

Khan is a tremendous fighter but we all know mayweather is on a different planet from the rest of the worlds top fighters except for the pacman who pushes him close
what I'm trying to say is khan may or may not "have the stlye" for a fight with floyd but it's irrelevant because he'll be totally dominated either way IMO

This story came from a round-the-table chat with Freddie Roach at the Mandalay Bay. What he actually said was that if Khan continued to mature as he believed he would, then in a couple of years Mayweather would not be a fight he would fear.

It's become a talking point so it's no bad thing IMO. The Great Unknowledgeable 'know' about Mayweather because of Hatton, so linking Khan to him is a story with legs. There will be a lot of talk about a Khan fight for a couple of weeks, then it will all die down. Then whoever Khan fights next will become 'the man he must beat in order to get the Mayweather fight', and they can put that on a tape loop for every fight Khan has.

It's a great selling point for Khan, but the demand for a fight will only come from the UK and only from people who don't really know what day it is where boxing is concerned, but believe their opinion is valid anyway. The football writers who will get Floyd's next Vegas jolly, because he'll be fighting Amir Khan next y'know, will be sticking tape machines in Mayweather's face and asking: 'What about Imran Khan, Lloyd? And on it will trundle.

Then maybe, maybe, in 2012 or something, providing Khan doesn't get beat before then, the fight will take place. But there will be an awful lot of bollocks talked between now and then.

If the British press had a picture of Bradley on their front pages, no-one would still know who he was.

King Geedorah wrote:Saddest thing is that you can see it happening. I've read that Arum is giving serious thought to rematching Cotto-Margo, fair dues, and then putting the winner in with Manny. This doesn't make much sense. Well, it does make sense in that it can be spun but it doesn't do anything for the sport. Neither does Floyd taking on anyone but Manny.

You would be pissed off if you paid to watch a swimming contest only for the competitors to spend 36 minutes treading water and then heading off for a shower and a party. Floyd and Manny are both treading water without one another and any fight involving the two should be a head-to-head, or they should both bow out and let us crack on with finding the next big stars of the sport. Watching them take on novelty fights has lost its novelty.

If Floyd can only fight once per year due to the tax man then it should be Manny in April followed by a farewell bout in 2012, Khan would fit the bill for that if still unbeaten, although I'd much prefer to see Floyd sign out against Andre Berto.

Berto? Are you sure? The same Berto who didn't beat a world champ for his title, lost in many peoples' opinion against Collazo, has fought mostly 2nd rate opposition since and is only mentioned as a future Pacman opponent because he's a black American and not Mayweather? Surely not, or is it the Haymon thing? Khan and the Bradley-Alexander winner would be way more deserving just for statrers.

King Geedorah wrote:Saddest thing is that you can see it happening. I've read that Arum is giving serious thought to rematching Cotto-Margo, fair dues, and then putting the winner in with Manny. This doesn't make much sense. Well, it does make sense in that it can be spun but it doesn't do anything for the sport. Neither does Floyd taking on anyone but Manny.

You would be pissed off if you paid to watch a swimming contest only for the competitors to spend 36 minutes treading water and then heading off for a shower and a party. Floyd and Manny are both treading water without one another and any fight involving the two should be a head-to-head, or they should both bow out and let us crack on with finding the next big stars of the sport. Watching them take on novelty fights has lost its novelty.

If Floyd can only fight once per year due to the tax man then it should be Manny in April followed by a farewell bout in 2012, Khan would fit the bill for that if still unbeaten, although I'd much prefer to see Floyd sign out against Andre Berto.

Makes all the sense in the world if you're Arum, Geedorah. Keeps all the money in house, big fights without having to do business with GBP or Floyd, keeps HBO happy. A short game outlook, but a good one.

King Geedorah wrote:

Newport Daz wrote:

King Geedorah wrote:Saddest thing is that you can see it happening. I've read that Arum is giving serious thought to rematching Cotto-Margo, fair dues, and then putting the winner in with Manny. This doesn't make much sense. Well, it does make sense in that it can be spun but it doesn't do anything for the sport. Neither does Floyd taking on anyone but Manny.

You would be pissed off if you paid to watch a swimming contest only for the competitors to spend 36 minutes treading water and then heading off for a shower and a party. Floyd and Manny are both treading water without one another and any fight involving the two should be a head-to-head, or they should both bow out and let us crack on with finding the next big stars of the sport. Watching them take on novelty fights has lost its novelty.

If Floyd can only fight once per year due to the tax man then it should be Manny in April followed by a farewell bout in 2012, Khan would fit the bill for that if still unbeaten, although I'd much prefer to see Floyd sign out against Andre Berto.

Berto? Are you sure? The same Berto who didn't beat a world champ for his title, lost in many peoples' opinion against Collazo, has fought mostly 2nd rate opposition since and is only mentioned as a future Pacman opponent because he's a black American and not Mayweather? Surely not, or is it the Haymon thing? Khan and the Bradley-Alexander winner would be way more deserving just for statrers.

Close or not, and I had him winning, but I rate Berto's win over Collazo higher than a win over Maidana as Luis has more to offer as a fighter than the Argentine. Quintana isn't bad, neither is Hernandez give Berto's brief sabbatical and Urango was a good scalp at the time of their fight. A Bradley-Alexander/Khan winner would have a good claim but we've yet to have the unification fight, let alone Khan's challenge to the winner, and Berto is bound to pick up a decent win in the interim.

Berto is closer in weight, has a good record, and one that is bound to get better, and is a marketable fight for Floyd as he will be a good good guy to Floyd's "bad" guy. A Berto fight would come after a win over Manny and would be an excellent retirement fight for Floyd, more so than Khan.

I understand what you're saying but can't agree. What was it that impressed in the win against Collazo? The hugging, what? The same Colllazo who lost almost every round to Mosely, yet coped easily with Berto's lack of fundamentals? Khan's win against Maidana and near shut out of Kotelnik is more impressive than anything Berto has done imo On top of that you've got the fact Berto doesn't draw. Thomas Hauser wrote an excellent piece on Berto's fight with Quintana. In Berto's own back yard, 973 people paid to see the fight and was on free TV. They're not figures that will get you a fight with Floyd. Your assertion that Berto is nearer in weight may well be irrelevent. Khan has many inches in height and reach on Berto and may well be a genuine 147'er by 2011-12. And to suggest Berto will have picked up a good win by then is presumptuous in the least. If he fights Selckuk Aydin as mandated, especially in Turkey, I wouldn't bet 1£ on the outcome being in Berto's favour.

I'm not bashing your opinion as you don't write for ring magazine if you don't know what you're looking at, I just don't get the hype with Berto or see a fighter that is capable of being world class.

I don't think Khan's ready, Mayweather would defuse Khan's gungho assaults and pick him off with with pinpoint counters.

Just watched the Maidana fight again now, he's definitely not ready. If anything, I saw it as a backward step for Khan. All the discipline he'd shown in recent fights evaporated. He would need to be absolutely on top of every aspect of his game to stand a chance against Mayweather. Plus side, Mayweather and Maidana are polar opposites in style. Floyd doesn't go hunting, doesn't crowd, Khan would have time and space to work, which Maidana denied him. Khan needs to get on top of his emotions though, you can't get excited and sloppy at top level.

Glyn Leach wrote:Just watched the Maidana fight again now, he's definitely not ready.

Why did Roach not tell him to block the uppercuts in close? He just stood there watching them crash into his face.