Earlier tonight at the theatre in Madison Square Garden, WBA Jr. Welterweight champion Amir Khan successfully defended his belt with a dominant 11th round stoppage over Brooklyn?s ultra-confident Paulie Malignaggi. Heading into the contest the former champion had some harsh and dismissive words for Khan but inside of the ring everything was dictated by the Lancashire native, who moves his record to 23-1 with 17 knockouts in what can be considered a rousing victory.
Before the fight Khan still had many question marks lingering from his September 2008 first round knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott and while he wasn?t able to give enough answers to completely remove the taste of that loss he was able to show much against Malignaggi. For the better of eleven rounds Khan controlled the action with his speed and precise power punching, leaving Malignaggi somewhat shocked often and early.
To his credit Malignaggi was game throughout but he simply lacked the firepower to deal with Khan, who was noticeably the bigger man and never seemed ruffled. Malignaggi began looking the worse for wear as the action reached the late rounds and referee Steve Smoger called a halt to the action halfway into the 11th after Paulie absorbed a hard combination from Khan. While disappointed with the stoppage Malignaggi seemed to recognize it simply wasn?t his night.
After the win Khan noted that Malignaggi was a very awkward fighter but that he stayed cool in between rounds and listened to the instructions of his trainer Freddie Roach. Since hooking up with Roach and training at the Wild Card Gym there have been noticeable improvements with Khan?s overall game.
Khan stated that he would be open to a fight with interim champion Marcos Maidana, a fight that the public has been clamoring for, and also said that he would love to see champions Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander face off with the two winners eventually locking horns. It?s a grand proposal by Khan and one that will have many crossing their fingers in hopes it becomes a reality.
For his part Malignaggi gave full credit to Khan, pointing to his activity as one of the reasons he had difficulty during the contest. Paulie suggested that me may have gotten a little older overnight and seems unsure of this future in the ring. With the loss Malignaggi falls to 27-4 with 5 stoppages and goes back to the drawing board. Despite being outgunned Paulie showed much professionalism and his style can still cause fits for a lot of fighters.
On the undercard Victor Ortiz won a clear decision over grizzled veteran Nate Campbell over ten rounds. Despite coming forward and pressing the fight the whole night Campbell had trouble with his younger foe?s speed and combination punching as he was never able to get on track. Campbell absorbed some hard blows but never seemed fazed although he did suffer a somewhat flash knockdown in the first. With the win Ortiz moves to 27-2-1 with 21 knockouts while Campbell sees his record drop to 33-6-1 with 25 stoppages.
To see images of Amir Khan’s stirring victory over Paulie Malignaggi please click on the collage or slideshow below…
