BoxRec

livingstone cole wrote:

ben k wrote:

Old bones Ian wrote:Just as a comparison, here are some other top boxers and who they faced in their 16th fight.

De La Hoya - John Avila
Roy Jones - Jorge Vaca
Ray Leonard- Bernardo Prada
Joe Calzaghe- Anthony Brooks

Best one i could see was for an opponent

Pernell Whitaker v Jose Luis Ramirez, but of course Whitaker lost, or so the judges said.

Stop making excuses, Fenech fought for a title in his 7th fight ,Tszyu fought an ex world champion in his 4th fight , Danny Green fought Beyer in his 16th fight Mundine fought Ottke in his 12th fight. There's no excuses for an olympic Silver medalist to fight the opposition he has to this point.

Earl and StClair are better than his previous opponents but there far from real tests of his abilitys at there age.

But Danny Green was about 30, Mundine 26, Tsyzu was a couple of years older........ but I'll give you Fenech.
People are getting really impatient with Kahn, but I think most of use thought he should have spent another year or so in the ams.

They were older i suppose but Khan won an Olmypic silver which is almost as good as it gets and although StClair is a decent opponent he is going to look like a straw weight next to Khan.

From his previous fights it's been very apparent that most of the work Amir has to do to become world class is around the defensive side of his technique.

So this guy is perfect for him, a guy who is likely to be sharp, go the distance, but is unlikely to hurt him.

Give Khan time, why risk putting him in with a big puncher at this stage - he's young, he's still got lots of development to do. The risky fights will come soon.

But why put a 21 year old into those type of fights when he's not quite ready. Learning is most important for now!!!!

What incentive is there for him to keep a tighter defense against a guy who doesn't punch that hard? What's gonna happen if he is suddenly matched with a solid puncher like Katsides up at world level?

Lenny wrote:What incentive is there for him to keep a tighter defense against a guy who doesn't punch that hard? What's gonna happen if he is suddenly matched with a solid puncher like Katsides up at world level?

Well, the first thing would be to improve his technique so that he gets hit less often (or less flush). If Katsidis can't hit Khan with a good punch then it doesn't matter what Khan's chin is like. I, personally, don't think Khan has a suspect chin (yet?). Against Limond, I just think Khan was hit in the right spot and he was totally pumped due to the occasion. He needs more experience before facing risky fighters, in my opinion.

Edit: Sorry, I was responding to the Katsidis comment. I somehow missed your first sentence. That's a good point, but I believe the incentive is that if he doesn't improve his defense now, he's risking getting hurt and not fulfilling his ambitions in the future.

Rocky Balboa wrote:St Clair is a SFW & is not known for his punching power. Khan is a big LW, soon to be LWW.

I really don't see it being any kind if test & that's no disrespect to Gary. Khan is improving with each fight - I, & not a lot of others could have forseeen the way dismantled Earl in his last fight.

Khan needs to be truly tested, but he won't be. Bottom line is, Khan-Thaxton should be happening, but it is not, which is s shame.

I guess Khan is too much of a commodity, thus the reason he won't be tested.

Oh come on, do you really think Thaxton would be that much of a test? I think St Clair is a good choice of opponent - actually a better bet that the Dane on balance. Sure, there are good reasons to believe that he is unlikely to win, but he should show Khan a few things before he eventually loses.

Sounds like another carefully calculated PR move by Frankie boy.

St Claire is 5'4'', people. Thats borderline dwarf. All Khan has to do is stay away & use his massive advantages.

Why fight a midget instead of taking the traditional British, Commonwealth and European route? Because of that shaky chin.

It's a good name on paper, but as has been pointed out, St Clair is a career Super Featherweight, doesn't hit hard, and has zero stoppages against any kind of name.

A 6 inch height advantage for Khan too - It's bordering on legalised bullying, and does nothing for boxing on tv.

I think ppl are being a bit harsh here - I mean the mans a recent former world champion - okay he's a career superfeather but plenty of fighters on the way up face quality fighters from a division below just so that they have a size advantage to make up for the disadvantage they have in experience. I mean for a late sub and in only your 16th fight at 21 years old its not bad going! I mean look at Cotto - on the way up he faced plenty of lightweights (he was lightwelter) like Bazan, Sosa before winning a world title. Okay so he's 5 ft 4 - thats small for a superfeather but he must a stocky type - I mean Ricky Hatton is only 5ft 6. I'm sure Khan will face THaxton at some point - but let me ask you this question - if it was THaxton facing St.Clair who would your money be on?

Good stand in opponent, if Khan can get eight rounds out of it, it will have been worth it.

Hmmm, This Stand in Appears to be more Experienced and Better than that Kirstjansen Fella..

Why fight a midget instead of taking the traditional British, Commonwealth and European route? Because of that shaky chin

I thought he wanted a straight WBO Eliminator? and be youngest British Champ etc.

Im pretty sure that he will Face Thaxton After his little Quest is Over

overhand_right wrote:Sounds like another carefully calculated PR move by Frankie boy.

St Claire is 5'4'', people. Thats borderline dwarf. All Khan has to do is stay away & use his massive advantages.

Why fight a midget instead of taking the traditional British, Commonwealth and European route? Because of that shaky chin.

Actually boxrec records are incorrect His correct height is 5ft6

Is it legalised bullying?
Corrales is around 6ft and at the time he fought St Claire with a 25-0 record and 22 KO's and the fight went the full distance.

Who exactly has Thaxton fought that makes ppl think his some kind of beast?
I bet if he was to fight Thaxton instead you would be saying that he didn't have enough time to prepare when Khan Knocks him out!!

We'll see come fight night who looks the bully ;)

Isn't current light welterweight world champion Gavin Rees something like 5'4"?

why does everyone make so much fuss over olympic medallists? just because you win a medal it doesnt make you any better than a fighter who wins a medal in the world championships.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =261752860

There is a video montage of him in training. He does indeed look tiny.

banjo wrote:why does everyone make so much fuss over olympic medallists? just because you win a medal it doesnt make you any better than a fighter who wins a medal in the world championships.

True but in Khan's case his comparitive youth made it more impressive. However I think Haye and Froch were far more rounded fighters post ameter carrers than Kahn or harrision so compleetly unscientificaly.

On the opponent I think Khan will learn a lot from the fight but would like him to take on ether the british or the european champion while waiting around for the world title I think it'll cosmeticaly be very good for him for the fans. I think the latter will be more likely from a marketing point of view though.

This should be a good fight dispite the hight difference and will be good television.

a reasonable matchup but this guy is a Superfeather at best. He was going to be fighting Scott Harrison not too long ago at Feather. Hardly the brave matchup some are making it out to be.

Wax On wrote:From his previous fights it's been very apparent that most of the work Amir has to do to become world class is around the defensive side of his technique.

So this guy is perfect for him, a guy who is likely to be sharp, go the distance, but is unlikely to hurt him.

Give Khan time, why risk putting him in with a big puncher at this stage - he's young, he's still got lots of development to do. The risky fights will come soon.

But why put a 21 year old into those type of fights when he's not quite ready. Learning is most important for now!!!!

St Clair is ok; he hasn't been sharp for a while though and I think he travels badly.

Khan said he wants to fight Thaxton next!!

You guys do know that Corrales couldn't stop St Clair don't you...

Marlin wrote:You guys do know that Corrales couldn't stop St Clair don't you...

Yes. And its also been mentioned previously that this is almost 10 years and 30 fights later. What nick is he in now?

Amir Khan makes the third defence of his Commonwealth lightweight title against Aussie buzzsaw and former IBF super-featherweight champion Gairy St Clair.
Rising Khan confirmed his star potential with a frightening 72-second dismissal of Luton warrior Graham Earl two months ago. Khan, 21 on the night, walked out and simply blew away a major test on the world scene. He looked tremendously big, strong and confident in front of 7,000 of his own fans in Bolton and his hands were a blur.
"Amir reminded me of a young Ray Leonard tonight," reckoned promoter F rank Warren - "God knows what he'll be like at 24 or 25."
Last summer, unbeaten Khan climbed off the floor to batter Glasgow's experienced and durable Willie Limond in eight breakthrough rounds, which took him to a new level and the Commonwealth lightweight title. He cruised to a four-round stoppage of Stoke's Scott Lawton in his first defence (Lawton lasted seven with British lightweight champ Jon Thaxton) - then came the Earl stunner on the same night as Mayweather-Hatton in December. Now 15-0 (12), Khan wants a world title this year and continues his rapid ascent against battle-hardened St Clair, a late but classy replacement for flu-ridden Dane Martin Kristjansen.
St Clair dished out a boxing lesson to hometown hero Cassius Baloyi to lift the IBF super-featherweight belt on a unanimous decision in South Africa in July 2006. He proved something of a revelation but went back 14 weeks later and lost the belt on a split decision to local man Malcolm Klassen, who proved something of a revelation himself. St Clair went back again and was outscored by Baloyi in a rematch last November. "He (Baloyi) is a very gutsy fighter, he surprised me a bit," said the visitor, who then moved up to lightweight (although he's flirted with higher weights before) and outscored Filipino Robert Oyan over six rounds in December in Australia in his last outing.
So the challenger represents a risk. A naturalized Australian by way of Georgetown, Guyana, St Clair has lost only to Baloyi, Klassen, Vivian Harris, Leonard "The Lion" Dorin and the late Diego Corrales in 46 fights - all major world champions; he celebrates his 33rd birthday on the night of the fight.
He's never been stopped.
What more do we know? Nicknamed "Superman", St Clair has flown all over the globe in a career dating back to 1994, turning pro in Guyana, proving tough in tough American rings and fighting out of Oz since 2001, where he also served as Kostya Tszyu's chief sparring partner (Ouch!). In the Philippines in 2004, he was desperately close to a non-title showdown with Filipino great Manny Pacquaio, before a Thai got the nod (that may have been a blessing). In Belfast in 2006, he was five days from challenging then WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison, before Harrison pulled out (St Clair would probably have licked the weight-drained, messed-up version of Harrison).
"The world title made all the years of struggle worth it," St Clair said.
So the fighter has a story worth telling. Raised in abject poverty in Guyana, he represented his country in the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1994 and was outpointed in the bantamweight second series by leading Aussie Robbie Peden, who went on to win the gold (a fast asleep Peden was once nearly killed by a jealous 'friend' who clubbed him repeatedly around the head with a baseball bat). St Clair made the switch and spent five years living in the slums of Brooklyn as he learned his craft in the legendary Gleason's Gym, fighting anyone at any weight for relative peanuts.
He went unbeaten in his first 16, before suffering his first loss at the hands of Corrales in Sacramento in 1998. "Chico", unbeaten in 25 at the time (22 early), couldn't budge the slick, stubborn St Clair and settled for a unanimous 12-round decision. St Clair regrouped, then made his way to Philadelphia in 1999 and was outscored in a 10-rounder by fellow Guyanan "Vicious" Vivian, unbeaten in 15 at the time (13 early) and a future WBA light-welterweight champion. A fight later, St Clair ventured to Montreal and was outpointed by future WBA lightweight champion Dorin after a 10-round war. Dorin was also unbeaten, and a non-stop pressure fighter.
Phew! St Clair then went unbeaten in six years and 22 fights up to the Klassen upset 15 months ago. He's lost only to Baloyi and Klassen in his last 25 fights, although he was held to a thrilling 10-round draw by Adelaide ex-amateur star James Swan in November 2002, a man he had previously stopped. He also has a draw with Detroit's highly useful Bernard Harris in a 10-rounder in South Carolina in 1998. He's won 15 of his last 17, including a fine decision over Uganda's feared Jackson Asiku, the current Commonwealth featherweight champion based in Oz, in a cracking eight-rounder in December 2003. The aggressive Asiku forced the action and threw plenty of punches, but St Claire, busy, clever, quick of hand and feet, scored with counters on the move to get home unanimously over a man who crushed the likes of Marc Callaghan and Jamie McKeever here.
Gritty and with good reflexes, the challenger is phenomenally durable (never floored) and gone 10 rounds or more 17 times; 12 rounds eight times. Not for nothing was he Tszyu's main sparring partner.
On the flip side, his peak may have come and gone after 14 years as a pro (33 on the night, to remind you) and he's taken this at three weeks' notice, although he was training for Filipino Jun Paderna in Sydney on February 1. And he's a stumpy 5ft 4ins (compared to the superbly built Khan's 5ft 10ins) and not really a puncher. His style reminds me of Terrence Alli, the Guyanan speedster who had three cracks at major world titles and always built up a lead with rapid combinations. But lack of power enabled Harry Arroyo, Jose Luis Ramirez and Julio Cesar Chavez respectively to wear Alli down and force victory.
Still, a quality operator and a good opponent for young Khan. NO WAY will Khan stop this guy.

Cannibal wrote:http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =261752860

There is a video montage of him in training. He does indeed look tiny.

Nice find.

Its not St Clair's diminutive stature that shocked me so much in that video, but rather his trainer's appearance.

It has been sometime since I saw anyone rocking the durag coupled with a heavy, mercury-esque tache.

He completes the look with boxing boots and spandex pants; who said that aussie's have no style?

If you like the soundtrack, here is a video to the Alex Gaudino mix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jNBFY5uthU

Quite a contrast from the overweight aussie padman

http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news ... 84600.html

Turns out St. Claire has never been Stopped....

I've heard Matlala's lined up if he can get past Windsor.