Abbo wrote:Very pro-Khan reporting today talking about how sparking Earl has "answered his critics"...
Yeah, cos we're always banging on about how he cant punch and cant KO shot fighters
Show me world-class defence over 8 rounds Amir. Then I for one will be "answered".
From the PA article on the Sportinglife website:
"And on Saturday night he silenced the last remaining critics... "
So, if he beats Thaxton does that answer you as a critic? If he beats Romanov and becomes European champion, does that answer the question. I hear what you say about the chin, but the time for world class defence will come. When he gets Katsidis maybe after Diaz has beaten him. But cut the kid a bit of slack. What he does is good, very good infact. He is a talent and the fans love to see him. You could have made the same argument about Naz, but it took a peak Marco Antonio Barrerra to ulitimately expose him. Matchmaking is about getting a guy to the top without having shortcomings exposed. Therefore, McGuigan never fought Nelson. Eubank and Benn were never put near Herol Graham, and Lennox Lewis was never given Witherspoon. Not that he wouldn't have beaten the spoon, but there were those behind the scenes who thought the old lad's overhand right.. about the same time Lennox fought Mercer ... was still a punch that could expose a weakness. Khan will move up, maybe fight a top man on the downslide (shame Morales is not around) and then be ready in time. If he stays where he is managerially, bides his time and takes his chances as they come, he will be a world champion and an even richer man than he is now. Conversely, say for arguments sake he ditches FW and Sports Netwqork and goes and does a deal with Golden Boy, his talent may carry him through but he will be also be cast to the wolves. They would lick their lips at the prospect of Hatton-Khan, which would certainly not be in Amir's best interests right now.
My point is simple Blade, I want to see him getting better. I havent seen that, and the Earl counts for nowt in that regard.
I think we are all dreaming of Amir reaching world class, and if he is to do so then the fundamentals need to be cemented early. It's no good knocking over Romanov thinking he's made it.
I dont want him turning up in a world title fight and being handed his head because he was busy living it up as a champagne boxer at lower levels.
I don't think the Earl fight was much of a learning experience for Khan. If he thinks he can do that to everybody he's in for a rude awakening. It was a good win against a guy who could potentially have caused him a few moments of trouble but it's rounds that he needs and a fight with Thaxton would help him gain the experience he needs.
There was a siginificant body of opinion saying Earl would beat Khan, and after he does an absolute number on him, suddenly Earl was not a match for him?
Sure, you don't learn much from 72 seconds of action, but as a bare result, it proves a lot.
oliverfennell wrote:There was a siginificant body of opinion saying Earl would beat Khan, and after he does an absolute number on him, suddenly Earl was not a match for him?
Sure, you don't learn much from 72 seconds of action, but as a bare result, it proves a lot.
Well he wasn't test at all in fairness Oliver. What will he have learned? I compared this to Gatti-Mayweather beforehand and didn't really give Earl any chance. Earl was ready to be finished from the start. It was no test for Khan, no challenge, he didn't have to do anything defensively. I don't see what experience he could have gained from it. Confidence yes, and it proved his ability to finish a hurt fighter (which Earl was - before the bell rang) which is important, but that's about it.
He has dramatically improved since the lawton fight and will continue to do and would of completed 12 rounds if had too because he trains hard, trust me i have seen it wit my own eyes. The guy also is a great finisher and was in the amateurs, when he has someone hurt he finishes them. U all need to start giving him his due the guy is good. I think it was a cracking win against a guy i have always had pleasuring in watchin.
We can't fault Khan, he came in and did a number on Earl.
However, there are still questions to be answered, and the main one is about his chin - Until that has been answered, then he hasn't answered all his critics.
oliverfennell wrote:There was a siginificant body of opinion saying Earl would beat Khan, and after he does an absolute number on him, suddenly Earl was not a match for him?
Sure, you don't learn much from 72 seconds of action, but as a bare result, it proves a lot.
Well he wasn't test at all in fairness Oliver. What will he have learned? I compared this to Gatti-Mayweather beforehand and didn't really give Earl any chance. Earl was ready to be finished from the start. It was no test for Khan, no challenge, he didn't have to do anything defensively. I don't see what experience he could have gained from it. Confidence yes, and it proved his ability to finish a hurt fighter (which Earl was - before the bell rang) which is important, but that's about it.
If you predicted Khan would do a number on Earl, then fair play to you for getting it spot-on. But just because you got it right doesn't change the fact that most other people saw it as a tough fight and quite a lot predicted an Earl win. This was a fantastic result for Khan.
It was a good win but I am concerned about a couple of things and him being in a balls to the wall hard fight where he needs his defence and needs to remain his composer and not rush in (or indeed if he remains his composer when finishing fighters) will leave me much more convinced.
josh fg wrote:It was a good win but I am concerned about a couple of things and him being in a balls to the wall hard fight where he needs his defence and needs to remain his composer and not rush in (or indeed if he remains his composer when finishing fighters) will leave me much more convinced.
Composure, for future reference. I think we're all waiting for a fight where he'll need to protect himself well, but also one that will show that he can take a good punch. I'm really looking forward to his next fight, no matter who it's against.
The thing is, when he's in a hard fight (e.g. Limond), then people point to his shortcomings. If he's in an easy one - even against a known and respected operator in Earl - then they say the opponent was no test.
oliverfennell wrote:The thing is, when he's in a hard fight (e.g. Limond), then people point to his shortcomings. If he's in an easy one - even against a known and respected operator in Earl - then they say the opponent was no test.
You can't have it both ways.
Its about the short commings still being there (chin out when he gets over excited and stuff) he needs to be in fights where he demonstrates he has learned to deal with those problems.
Abbo wrote:My point is simple Blade, I want to see him getting better. I havent seen that, and the Earl counts for nowt in that regard.
I think we are all dreaming of Amir reaching world class, and if he is to do so then the fundamentals need to be cemented early. It's no good knocking over Romanov thinking he's made it.
I dont want him turning up in a world title fight and being handed his head because he was busy living it up as a champagne boxer at lower levels.
It was a great destruction, showed huge promise, but he needs some tricky 12 round outings (vs foreign opponents) or fights with some detemrined title holders like Thaxton and Romanov.
These kind of wins always impress, but I agree, they can only show us so much.
Earl was there to be taken beyond doubt. Pros to Khan for taking him though. Definitely ha s alot of raw talent. If David Diaz is still a world title holder in a couple of years...
If Khan gets a world title fight within the next year it'll be like Rey Bautista vs. Ponce De Leon. He needs at least three more tough, learning fights at domestic and Euro level. I'd put him in with Thaxton, then maybe Romanov, then a solid fringe contender. Depending on how well he handles those steps up he might be ready for one of the lesser belt holders.
oliverfennell wrote:The thing is, when he's in a hard fight (e.g. Limond), then people point to his shortcomings. If he's in an easy one - even against a known and respected operator in Earl - then they say the opponent was no test.
You can't have it both ways.
Of course it's great to have shut Earl up and knocked him out so quickly but the Limond fight would have been much more of a learning experience. Not his fault Earl was not enough of a test and he did what he had to do.
