Love him or hate him, Amir Khan has piloted his destiny to the brink of glory as rumors and reports place him as the next opponent for Floyd Mayweather this May. As the biggest fight of Khan’s career seemingly approaches, there is still one obstacle to climb before Mayweather can even be a reality and that will be this weekend against Lamont Peterson, a fighter who was at one time highly regarded as Khan was coming up, but setbacks in the form of a dominating loss to Timothy Bradley and a draw against Victor Ortiz left many to believe we’ve seen the best of him. Will Khan find himself one step away from the promised land? Or can Peterson take the last great step and place himself among the best of the sport?
Amir Khan, WBA and IBF Super Lightweight Champion Age: 24 Height: 5’10” Record: 26-1 (18 KO) BoxRec Ranking: 2 Last Five Fights: 5-0 (3 KO)
Lamont Peterson Age: 27 Height: 5’9″ Record: 29-1-1 (15 KO) BoxRec Ranking: 3 Last Five Fights: 3-1-1 (3 KO)
Power: Khan Speed: Khan Technique: Peterson X-Factor: Peterson (Shows more strength in closing rounds)
Though Peterson has had his share of setbacks, he showed a facet of his game that may trouble the champion in this fight and that is his conditioning and discipline to box, even in the face of an aggressive opponent. Bradley and Ortiz both knocked Peterson down, but they were unable to seriously hurt him and found themselves taking punishment as a result of their aggressiveness with accurate body shots and a stiff jab. Khan is devolving from a boxer-puncher to a typical “ambush” style fighter like fellow sparring-mate Manny Pacquiao. This works in Peterson’s favor because Khan will need momentum to throw his barrage of punches and Peterson can control the pace with a jab and well-timed body shots.
