In the ever-changing boxing world things have taken a turn for WBA Jr. Welterweight champion Amir Khan. While it was originally rumored that the Lancashire native could be facing Juan Manuel Marquez on May 15th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the fight appeared to fall apart at the negotiating tables and it looks like Khan will most likely be tangling with brash and outspoken former champion Paulie Malignaggi instead.
The war of words between the two men has been well documented and each man has even begun firing warning shots from their personal Twitter page as well. Pitting Khan’s speed and power against Malignaggi’s ring savvy would make for an interesting scenario for some while others could gladly go without the fight. It seems as though many fans still question Khan’s chin after his disastrous stoppage loss to Breidis Prescott in September 2008 and want to see him in with a dangerous puncher more than anything else.
Wanting to get a better feel for the public’s thoughts on a Malignaggi showdown as well as their opinions on Amir himself, I picked out some choice comments from forum members and users online. Needless to say, it wasn’t hard finding people with heavy opinions on the 23 year old, whether good or bad.
In their own words, this is what some of the public is saying about Amir Khan…
(arraamis @ BoxingScene.com)… “Khan running around stating who’s not on his level and who’s not a big enough name for his debut … is off the hook crazy. He needs to make a name for himself in the US and Malignaggi is a good start. Malignaggi may look like an easy fight, but its far from it. If only Malignaggi had a little more snap in his shots we would really see what Khan is made of.”
(LondonUK @ BoxingNews24.com)… “There seems to be loads of talk about Khan not being ready yet and he is being groomed for greatness. What then is he doing with a title belt if he cannot defend it against the best? If he is as good as his fans believe, then he should put his and Roach’s reputations on the line and take on a decent fighter for a change. If not, then vacate it and leave it to the pro’s. The above article’s last section sums it up the best. At first, his promoters talked about Bradley and Maidana. Then all of the sudden they got scared for their boy. I think he should take on one of those two. If he is able to even stand his ground, then he has my vote. Otherwise, he is just a puppet.”
(Matt (Yorkshire) @ BadLeftHook.com)… “Khan to beat Malignaggi for in a pretty close UD for me.Too young,too fast,coach Roach factor,Malig not being able to take advantage of Khan’s biggest weakness is my reasoning.”
(hayZ @ BoxingScene.com)… “Khan will murder Paulie, Paulie has nothing which can threat Khan. No power at all, he’ll probably break his hand mid way in the fight and Khan will probably damage him, Khan will open up on Paulie because Paulie hasn’t got much power at all. It’s good Khan is thinking OUT LOUD now, im liking it…this is the way to make it big in the US. Look at Paul Williams he should be ****ing huge in the States but only boxings hardcore fans have heard of him. If he was in the UK, we would have hyped the hell outta him and he deserves it, hes a throwback. Khan’s only weakness is his chin, he has everything else, you gotta have abit of an attitude to make it in the states, Khan has realised this and this is why hes giving it abit of verbal now ;D”
(Ateeq @ BoxingNews24.com)… “if you hate khan don’t watch him but i tell you what he’ll shut the big boys up unfortunately his very young buts that not his fault his too taleneted. if his fights hatton then people will say hatton was past it, if he fights bradely then they’ll say bradleys too short, if he fights malignagi then people will say his not a powerful puncher. khan is in a no win situation. all these fighter would get the salita treatment under the guidance on roach.”
(theworldsoldestsport @ BadLeftHook.com)… “it’s impressive that malignaggi has gotten so much mileage out of 2 fights he lost, and going 1-1 in his last two. seriously. a lot of guys never get a a shot, or maybe one big shot on the big stage….props to malignaggi’s maneuvering. part of it is his appeal for lacking in power but being durable. perfect foil, seemingly, to a lot of fighters and their managers.”
(SoZe @ BoxingScene.com)… “Yeah, Khan MIGHT beat Maidana, but obviously his promoters are mighty worried about a potential Khan vs Maidana fight. Making him sign a clause where he won’t enact his mandatory title shot for AT LEAST A YEAR in exchange for an HBO appearance. That kind of s*** is exactly why people are upset at this HBO/GBP love affair, other promoters have enough trouble getting actual fights on HBO, but GBP get’s HBO dates for cards with scintillating fights featuring “TBA vs TBA,” and “TBA vs TBA.” Mark your calendars, folks, sounds like a night of can’t miss boxing! Now this bull****, where HBO is going to allow GBP to dictate how and why a fighter get’s a title shot at Amir Khan? Maidana is the mandatory and he won’t get a shot for at least a year! I’d love to sit Ross Greenburg of HBO Sports down for an interview and try to get him to say this isn’t some corrupt bull**** with a straight face. To tell the public that backroom deals like these are exactly why the casual fan will never become a big boxing fan. Because even though when inside that ring boxing can be the absolute King of Sports, it’s this contractual shadiness that brings collusion and untrustworthy feelings for anyone involved in the sport. I am a HUGE boxing fan but this has gotten way out of hand.”
(Click to get an inside look at Amir Khan, Paulie Malignaggi, Timothy Bradley, Edwin Valero, Marcos Maidana, and the other top names at 140 pounds)
(Morales @ BoxingNews24.com)… “They really like bumming everyone, especially if it makes Khan look bad. This is the response when he ko’s a mandatory challenger, imagine what they would say if he lost the fight! If you hate the guy that much stop writing about him, oh but then you’d lose half your readers, lol I feel sorry for you guys. Why don’t you bum each other that would be less embarrassing.”
(El Destruyo @ BadLeftHook.com)… “Paulie can’t outbox Khan enough to make up for the gaping power differential, but this could be a entertaining fight, so long as one goes into it knowing that only Paulie has a chance of actually proving something.”
(ADozenArrows @ BoxingScene.com)… “I think this fight would be great for Paulie and Amir. New York’s the perfect place to make a big debut, and if Roach could get a gameplan for Khan to KO Malignaggi, it would be a huge splash for him to start his career in America, especially since Cotto, Diaz and Hatton(b.s stoppage) couldn’t knock out Paulie. This is also great for Katsidis who had Guerrero drop out of their bout earlier this week, and he’s been wanting to fight Marquez for a long time. If only Marquez would agree to this fight, it could potentially be fight of the year for 2010. I like how these things are working out.”
(Gabriel @ BoxingNews24.com)… “HE should be forced to fight maidana. Then maidana will get the belt and knock this poser out.”
(Chaos100 @ BadLeftHook.com)… “Paulie nicks the first round, and then sometime early in the second, Khan realises that Paulie can’t hurt him. At all. And there Khan will take over. I can see a world of pain opening up for Paulie. For the record, I don’t really rate Kahn,I don’t really like him either. But he is strong and fast enough to really take it to Paulie if he realises Paulie can’t even hit hard enough to break his chin, of all things…. Paulie has more chance of beating Maidana, I think, because he’d be quick enough to evade for a while, even if Maidana does tag him it’s not the end of the world, and he would win rounds with skill and speed. He doesn’t have those advantages over Khan. Funny isn’t it? I’d back Khan over Paulie, give Paulie the better chance of a win over Maidana (albeit still a slim one), and I think Maidana polishes the canvas with Khan within 3 rounds”
(PittyPat @ BoxingScene.com)… “F***ing hell, now his true colours emerge. I’m done defending him. People can hate all they want now, because this is exactly what I didn’t want to hear him say at this point in his career – i.e. claiming that dangerous mandatories are below him or not good enough for a US debut. I say fuck him and f*** GBP. He’s not a name in the States, so why does he feel as though he deserves to be one without first facing his well-deserving mandatory? Does he actually think Salita was his first step towards greatness or something? Puh-leez. I hope Maidana, Marquez, Malignaggi or anyone sparks him out in his next fight.”
(Oli @ BoxingNews24.com)… “End of the day his fans can talk all they want about khans super speed and talent but the fact remains that when a fighter hits back and comes to have a war, Amir khan cant take any of it. And thats even at lower domestic level. Mallignaggi cant punch for toffee but hes a step up at least and i think hes still got too much for khan”
(romebyko @ BoxingScene.com)… “am i the only one who see’s that this kid is full of s***?he want’s to fight paulie for the name whatever he want’s to fight him cause he can’t hurt that weak ass chin of his this guy is a cocksucker i can’t wait for him to fight maidana so he can get shitcaned and the real jr ww can move on”
(Click to get an insider’s perspective of all of the noise taking place at 140 pounds)
(shabaz @ BoxingNews24.com)… “listen boyz khan will rock malignaggi in the first 10 seconds, and then TKO him his speed is unstoppable if he misses one punch he will land with the other before you can blink that is khans speed, and it proved to be his best tactics so far he even said himself that he just wanted to give a normal one-two to salita and it knocked him down he may have not been hurt but was stunned and i have seen maidana and ortiz they also have weak chins but great heart and if khan gets 3 ko’s in one round against them he will win and hopefully as time passes on his power will improve”
(dwidsid3d @ BoxingScene.com)… “Apparantly Malinaggi is on Khans level.When HBO is told to let Khan have 3 gimmi fights,the dude is being protected.When Malinaggi/Pac-man was proposed Roach said”no way we don’t WANT to HURT paulie”.I just find it funny ,Maidaina KNOCKED out Ortiz on HBO,but to Khan he isn’t well known like HIS LAST MANDATORY the “world renown”Dimitri Salita.I never remember him fighting on HBO or Khan for that matter fighting on hbo.Khan and Roach KNOW that Amir has a melon for a chin and if Khans opponent can punch its always very very risky.I don’t have to remind anyone how few punchers khan faced,the ONE TIME he faced a puncher,he was wobbled by the first jab and knocked out as viscous as any knockout in boxing in under a minute from the opening bell.When 135 started heating up Khan was gone,khan found one of the most pedestrian title holders in Kotelnik at 140 and now Khan refuses to defend against his mandatory.It didn’t stop him when his mandatory was LIGHT PUNCHING Salita.The funniest part is whenever Roach is asked what he sees in Khans future Roach always mentions the same nemes Morales,Nate Campell,Marquez-how about fighters under 36 who KHAN doesn’t have a 6 inch reach on.Is that asking too much for the next SELF PROCLAIMED FUTURE LB FOR LB #1.”
(Angel @ BoxingNews24.com)… “if they take the fight with malignaggi what it says about khan is that he’s scared of big punchers with power and scared of a real fight with a top contender. it reeks of avoidance. it’s also an extemely boring and predictable fight and boxing fans were bored with khan along time ago”
(gingeralbino @ BoxingScene.com)… “well we’ve gone on a massive merry go round and come back to where everyone knew we’d be, Khan v Paulie for his US debut… -Well known name in the UK and USA -top 10 JWW -Cant crack an egg
The perfect Khan opponent for his US debut. I wouldn’t have minded this fight if it wasnt for all the bull**** thats happened inbetween. GBP persuading Madaina to basically **** of for a year (and probably hoping he’ll lose in the mean time), using JMM’s name to make everyone think that Khan was fighting someone more dangerous than Madaina (i dont believe they had any intention of that fight, smoke and mirrors). Khan is gonna make mincemeat out of Paulie. It’ll be his best win to date too, which speaks volumes. I’ve been on the fence with Khan to date (bar the Barrera fight), and i’ll stay on it just because i thought Khan Paulie was a good fight for him to take at this stage of his career before all the bullshit started But his opponent after better be a legit JWW who is actually capable of doing a little bit of damage or i’ll officially be on the “I cant wait for Khan to get KTFO again” club. Mind u, if Paulie KOs him i’ll be laughing my ass of so i might already be in that club.”
(James MC @ BoxingNews24.com)… “Why does everyone on here use khans age as an excuse?juan diaz who is no special fighter had unified 3 of the lightweight belts at the ag of 23.barrera had been in over 10 world title fights by 23,morales had been in 9 beating the likes off jones,chacon and mccullough.it just shows if ur good enough your old enough,so khan claims to be the best so its time for him to prove himself against the best.Plus i will never respect khan untill he fights another big puncher like prescott,bailey,tores,valero or maidana,witch wont happen any time soon.”
