Amir Khan takes on Dmitriy Salita on Saturday night in the first defense of his WBA light Welterweight title. The fight is happening in Newcastle, England and also features Kevin Mitchell against previous Khan beater Breidis Prescott.
Salita is a solid fighter, but really doesn’t have very much to trouble Khan, in fact the only thing that he has an advantage over Khan in is a better chin. Khan has the better power, speed and technique to counteract this though, and Salita wont have any answer for any of those. Salita is also a notoriously slow starter, and if Khan comes in guns blazing, he might well run right through Salita fight away.
This actually wouldn’t be a good result for Khan, who needs to be tested and pushed at this stage of his career rather than getting quick blow outs. The danger of lots of fast KO’s of course is that eventually Khan will run into someone who he can’t knock out.I expect Salita to make it difficult for Khan if he can get past the early rounds, and he may even worry the champ with a decent shot or two if Khan isn’t careful. Eventually though Khan’s hand speed will take its toll and Salita will end the night staring up from the canvas. Khan by KO
Paul Williams, the most avoided man in boxing at the moment, takes on Sergei Martinez in a non title 160lb bout Saturday, a fight both men will help then secure big money fights down the road. Williams is a very difficult fighter to figure out, being exceptionally tall for the weight class and throwing a lot of punches that many opponents find difficult to get past. The fight probably wont be pretty, as both fighters are south paws and Martinez will have to get on the inside and rough up Williams to win. Williams should be able to control the distance with jabs and a better work rate however, and will probably take this one by decision. Williams via decision
Chris Arreola is also back in action just weeks after his loss to Vitali Klitschko, and takes on Brian Minto on the under card of Williams vs. Martinez. Arreola, a bruising brawler willing to take a beating to get some of his own shots in, should find Minto a fairly easy target. At under 6 feet, and without the kind of power to trouble Arreola, Minto will be lucky to make it to the halfway point. He does have accuracy over Arreola, but not much else, Expect Arreola to crowd Minto early and wear him down with his size and power. Arreola via early KO
