When Juan Manuel Marquez defeated Juan Diaz at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas at the end of last month people began eyeing the lightweight champion?s future in the sport. Names such as Manny Pacquiao, Michael Katsidis and Amir Khan all started circulating as possible opponents as it became increasingly clear that Marquez wasn?t calling it a day anytime soon.
The front runner at the time seemed to be Khan, the WBA Jr. Welterweight champion from the United Kingdom who had seemed to rejuvenate his career under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach. Khan?s advantages in youth, size and speed would seem to give him a serious edge over Marquez but it was deemed the likely fight to push forward. However, in an interesting turn of events another name has come to the forefront in recent days as a possible Khan foe.
Interim champion Marcos Maidana has found himself caught up in a war of words with the cocky champion following some despairing remarks from Roach that his charge is the cream of the crop at 140 pounds. Maidana, who has a tentative August 28th date with former champion DeMarcus Corley lined up, demanded that Khan?s camp stop the talking and simply fight instead. Khan would later express his interest in a Maidana fight and the bout that many have been speculating about for over a year seems to have new life.
Maidana may be a little rough around the edges but the Argentinean?s brute nature and crippling power make him a threat at all times, as evidenced by his upset TKO over Victor Ortiz last year and his stoppage over Victor Cayo earlier this year at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Khan?s biggest strengths are his offensive fluidity and great length and it would be interesting to see how he would fend off a pit bull like Maidana.
While a Khan-Marquez clash still seems to be rumored, Khan has stated that the proud champion seems to be pricing himself out of the fight and would welcome a tussle with Maidana instead with the winner facing off with the victor from a hopeful January Timothy Bradley-Devon Alexander meeting.
Wanting to get a better feel for what some boxing minds had to say on the fight I reached out to some fellow boxing writers in the sport, simply asking for their thoughts on the two men and how they think a Khan-Maidana clash would play out. This is what everyone had to say?
Kevin Iole, national boxing writer for Yahoo! Sports ?Khan has the far better pedigree and has a complete game. Some people question his chin because of the Prescott fight, but he was hit squarely on the chin with a massive punch. I don’t think he has an issue with his chin. He’s a quality boxer with speed and quickness and he hits hard. Maidana is a very hard hitter, but he’s open to being hit often in return. He relies on his punching power, which is well above average, and often makes fundamental mistakes.
I’d pick Khan to win the fight by a wide unanimous decision. He’d have to box a very smart fight and avoid getting into exchanges where Maidana would be able to tee off. But if he does that, I think he’d win a decision going away.?
Ryan Maquinana, West Coast correspondent for www.MaxBoxing.com ?With a guy like Amir, the first thing that comes to mind is his speed. In my opinion, he has the fastest hands in the division. The next thing is his boxing ability, which has become more nuanced since he’s been with Freddie Roach. The distance game he played with an outstanding boxer like Paulie Malignaggi was brilliant, and despite being able to land his jab and score on the inside repeatedly, he was almost always out of harm’s way when Paulie tried to put some offense together. Maybe we can attribute that to his improved pivots as well. However, the question of his chin still remains, much like it was for Manny Pacquiao earlier in his career until he grew into his body at 122 and above. His retractors are always quick to remind us of Willie Limond, Breidis Prescott, and Michael Gomez–guys who fit in the category of solid competition but a step below contender–yet were able to put Amir on the canvas.
Obviously a fight with Maidana, the current chin-checker of the division, will test his whiskers on a more elite level. In his last fight with Victor Cayo, Marcos simply won a war of attrition, where he basically dared the Dominican to trade with him to see who finished the fight vertical. Against Victor Ortiz, he proved how murderous of a puncher he was, in addition to his resiliency. However, with that said, Maidana went down thrice against Ortiz, and with his free-swinging style, there are quite a few holes for someone with the amateur pedigree of Amir Khan to exploit.
For Maidana to win this fight, he’s going to have to put Khan on the canvas early to put some points in the bank, and make Amir open up and trade since in that scenario he will have fallen behind. However, I don’t see that happening. I like Khan by decision. I think his defense has improved, and the moment he feels a stalking Maidana land a big overhand right, he will use his physical gifts to box his way out of trouble when necessary.?
Frank Stea, Las Vegas insider and owner of www.FrankStea.com ?I think Khan has finally come along and is definitely one of the best at 140. Freddie Roach has definitely played an intricate part of his recent success. He has incredible skill as a boxer and his reach advantage and size makes him a force. He’s only 23 and one of the top 15-20 best fighters in the world. His only weakness might be chin but with his defensive fundamentals, I don’t think he is going to allow another Breidis Prescott event occur.
Marcos Maidana is a pure beast. His knockout percentage and all action style makes him an exciting fighter to watch. His power is definitely his advantage but lack of pure boxing skill is his weakness. His strengths can also be his weakness when matched up against a defensive fighter.
If Khan and Maidana were to meet, I see the outcome in different ways. 1. Khan outboxes him for twelve rounds en route to a unanimous decision. 2. Khan frustrates Maidana and stops him early or midway into the fight. 3. The only way I see Maidana winning this fight is by an early stoppage. In a fight that could go either way, I would make a bold prediciton and say that Khan’s skill puts Maidana away before the 5th round.?
Tim Starks, CQ reporter and owner of one of boxing?s hottest blogs, The Queensberry Rules ?However you rank them, Khan and Maidana are clearly two of the four best men in one of boxing’s best divisions. Both have had interesting career arcs. Khan was the physically gifted golden child coming out of the Olympics before his inability to take a shot got revealed as a major liability. But there was a third act, too. The job he and trainer Freddie Roach have done to disguise that weakness has been strategically impressive, an equal mixture of improved defense, a revamped style and keeping him away from big punchers. Maidana had to slug his way to the top from virtually nowhere, using some of the purest power in boxing, high volume and raw determination to upset Victor Ortiz after a loss against Andriy Kotelnik.
I retain my doubts that they will ever fight one another. I’m sure Khan, as confident a kid as you’ll ever find, wouldn’t mind, but his team clearly has designs on avoiding a showdown with a big puncher like Maidana for as long as it can be avoided. I’d love the fight; one of the most interesting kinds of match-ups in boxing is between guys whose styles are totally poisonous for each other, and as much as Khan’s chin could go in a snap should Maidana connect, I can easily envision the polished Khan making the crude Maidana look like a clumsy newborn foal. I honestly can’t predict who I think would win right now. That’s why I want to see it. If Maidana won, he’d have his second scalp of a heavily hyped young talent, and he’d be in line for the winner of Timothy Bradley-Devon Alexander to determine divisional supremacy; if Khan won, almost all the knocks on him would disappear, and we might be talking about a special fighter in the making.?
Kenneth Ragpala, owner of The Filipino Boxing Journal ?Marcos Maidana lacks technique but he makes up for that with sheer punching power and steel will. On the other hand, Amir Khan is a very compact fighter with skills, punching power, and ring savvy. Both fighters make up a very great match up.
This will be a close fight and might could end up in a split decision if it goes the distance. I am leaning towards Khan but I won’t be surprised if Maidana win this one. Khan will use his superior skills and ring generalship to win the rounds. And with Roach by his side, Khan will certainly have a gameplan.
But Maidana is someone no boxer should take lightly. If he catches Khan with great and solid shots to the chin, it might be lights out for the Brit. While Khan’s defense has improved, he will still take shots and for someone who could punch like Maidana, sometimes, it only takes one punch to end the fight.?
David Avila, West Coast Bureau Chief for The Sweet Science ?Amir Khan has thrived under Freddie Roach’s tutelage. He’s becoming a very complete fighter. The defensive holes he used to have are quickly disappearing. Khan has more speed and quickness than anybody with the exception of Timothy Bradley. But he has height to go with that speed.
Marcos Maidana is a terrific punching machine. He’s willing to take two punches to get his one in. That makes him a threat at all times. He was dropped three times against Victor Ortiz but still stopped him. He has a lot of determination but not a lot of boxing skills.
If Khan were to fight Maidana it would go the distance and Khan should win by lopsided decision.?
For images of Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana please check out the slideshow below?
