my thoughts on khan vs maidana

first off, i want to say that all of this time i have been pretty hard on khan saying that he isnt a special fighter. this fight made me see that he is a really good fighter. i also didnt think that the scores should have been that close. i thought that khan won by a larger margin. khan showed me that he had heart and an alright chin. he will give most people a hard fight.

i also have to give props to maidana though for fighting the whole fight. he never gave up. he made the fight exciting because i knew that there was always a chance that he could KO khan. cortez was terrible though. maidana was going for the KO in the last few rounds because he needed it and cortez didnt let maidana fight out of the clinches. khan would grab his arm and maidana would just keep throwing and cortez would break them up. i literally yelled at the screen in the 12th one time because he would not let maidana fight. i still think that khan would win the fight even with another ref but cortez was terrible. and one more thing, you cant warn a fighter for hitting behind the head if his opponent is always ducking into his punches. tell khan to stopped ducking with the back of his head wide open.

overall, the fight was good and both fighters gained my respect. khan may be the best 140 pounder right now but i guess we will see if he fights the winner of the alexander/bradley fight.

Nice post. I scored it even before the point and agree Cortez was simply awful.

i agree.good post.i had madiana wining the last 3 rounds one a 10-8 the others 10-9..i had kahn the first 10-8 and four out of the next 5 rounds.the round they took a point away i gave to kahn by 10-8.the other two split giving kahn a win by 3 points..maybe 4

dmar5143 wrote:i agree.good post.i had madiana wining the last 3 rounds one a 10-8 the others 10-9..i had kahn the first 10-8 and four out of the next 5 rounds.the round they took a point away i gave to kahn by 10-8.the other two split giving kahn a win by 3 points..

GET OUT OF MY HEADDDDD, that's how I scored it more or less.

lol great minds you know the saying

Maidana showed exactly who he is: a relentless brawler with hammers in his hands and cement in his chin. The ref may have cost him the fight.

Khan was spectacular and disappointing. His jab can be a thing of beauty. I think his hand speed is unmatched. He has power, speed, technique, heart and a great body. It's easy to talk about all the things he does well, but I'm going to comment on the flaws. His chin is still a liability. He has no ability to fight inside whatsoever (does Freddie teach his fighters to eat uppercuts?). He could not capitalize on the obvious weakness of his opponent (the body).

Those are things he will not be able to get away with against Bradley. I think he might have the most potential in the sport, but as it stands I don't see him winning his next fight.

Gumby wrote:Maidana showed exactly who he is: a relentless brawler with hammers in his hands and cement in his chin. The ref may have cost him the fight.

Khan was spectacular and disappointing. His jab can be a thing of beauty. I think his hand speed is unmatched. He has power, speed, technique, heart and a great body. It's easy to talk about all the things he does well, but I'm going to comment on the flaws. His chin is still a liability. He has no ability to fight inside whatsoever (does Freddie teach his fighters to eat uppercuts?). He could not capitalize on the obvious weakness of his opponent (the body).

Those are things he will not be able to get away with against Bradley. I think he might have the most potential in the sport, but as it stands I don't see him winning his next fight.

I disagree, I can see Khan blowing away Bradley with relative ease. Too much speed and class for Timmy.

Khan wanted to prove a point tonight about his chin, if he'd just solely listened to Freddie we wouldn't have had so many hairy moments.

Ali wrote:

Gumby wrote:Maidana showed exactly who he is: a relentless brawler with hammers in his hands and cement in his chin. The ref may have cost him the fight.

Khan was spectacular and disappointing. His jab can be a thing of beauty. I think his hand speed is unmatched. He has power, speed, technique, heart and a great body. It's easy to talk about all the things he does well, but I'm going to comment on the flaws. His chin is still a liability. He has no ability to fight inside whatsoever (does Freddie teach his fighters to eat uppercuts?). He could not capitalize on the obvious weakness of his opponent (the body).

Those are things he will not be able to get away with against Bradley. I think he might have the most potential in the sport, but as it stands I don't see him winning his next fight.

I disagree, I can see Khan blowing away Bradley with relative ease. Too much speed and class for Timmy.

Khan wanted to prove a point tonight about his chin, if he'd just solely listened to Freddie we wouldn't have had so many hairy moments.

ill comment on your two statements.

first, im not sure who i would pick to win yet between bradley and khan. after the alexander fight i will be able to pick. khan may throw some quicker punches but bradley is faster overall with his flurries. i think that its a toss up right now but we will see.

i agree that if he listened to freddie then he would be fine but i think the problem was that he couldnt. i think that he got hurt and was getting tired so he didnt have many options. maidana was just too much for him sometimes and khan just couldnt do anything. roach and cortez won the match for khan. without roach, khan wouldnt have made it to the final bell.

kahn didnt blow away maidana and i doubt he will bradley.the fights a toss up.i agree with gumby that first lets see what tim can do with alexander first...ali how did kahn prove a point with his chin and acording to you he wanted to take shots to prove that point.thats how i read it..kahn proved he has a vulnerable chin.the 3-4 times he got hurt he either ran like a deer or held on for dear life.there was nothing that resembles a jake lamotta bravido..he also proved he has no idea on how to fight on the inside and that he cant slip punches that were telegraphed...he did prove he just may be the most talented fighter in the division overall..his potential is perhaps the best in boxing..hes arrived but i also say potential cause there are weak and or rough spots in the armour that needs improvement a lot..his game plan was to move stick with that great jab time maidana coming in and move move after fluries not to take punches slugging it out..if it was then fight when your in a corner not cover up like a turtle or hold on for dear life...he has heart yes.a reliable chin.nope.that above anything else he did prove.he may be one of the 4-5 or so most talented fighters in boxing.

I see Khan getting KO'd in the near future. You can't have a bad chin like that in the lower weight divisions and expect to stay on top. Unless just fed feather fisted opponents.

This isn't like Wlad who like Khan is bigger then most his opponents, but with Wlad, his oppoents are also slow, and lumbering. Not the case with the lighter weights.

A fighter with better boxing skills then Maidana and good power will destroy Khan.

Khan is better served facing pure boxers and boxer/punchers. guys who will look to box and are not all out blood and guts warriors. I favor him big over Alexander. I think he beats Bradley as well (thought that is going to be one heck of a fight).

Maidana (to use a dougie fisher phrase) is a "card-carrying badass".

Khan abandoned the jab for large portions of the fight, big mistake. When he jabbed and landed, Maidana stopped in his tracks. He also abandoned the body after he started taking return fire. If he had done the same sort of bodywork in rounds 4-12 that he did in rounds 1-3, he would have taken the sap out of Maidana.

GrantZilla wrote:I see Khan getting KO'd in the near future. You can't have a bad chin like that in the lower weight divisions and expect to stay on top. Unless just fed feather fisted opponents.

This isn't like Wlad who like Khan is bigger then most his opponents, but with Wlad, his oppoents are also slow, and lumbering. Not the case with the lighter weights.

A fighter with better boxing skills then Maidana and good power will destroy Khan.

I agree. But there's nobody at 140 who fits that description.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:I see Khan getting KO'd in the near future. You can't have a bad chin like that in the lower weight divisions and expect to stay on top. Unless just fed feather fisted opponents.

This isn't like Wlad who like Khan is bigger then most his opponents, but with Wlad, his oppoents are also slow, and lumbering. Not the case with the lighter weights.

A fighter with better boxing skills then Maidana and good power will destroy Khan.

[b]
I agree. But there's nobody at 140 who fits that description.

[/b

nope, the one person with the best chance couldn't get the job done in 36 minutes last night. i think Khan fought a very scared fight, he looked a lot more nervous than usual when he was entering last night. there were times when Maidana was tired and Amir should have exploited that. you have to give major props to Maidana though, that was a genuine CHALLENGE by somebody competing for a title and he looked like he really really wanted it. he is definitely good enough to come again and will probably be a very avoided man. i think he'd take Alexander out no problem. When Khan allowed himself to get backed onto the ropes was when he come unstuck, and somebody has to do something about them uppercuts on the inside, i've seen exactly the same thing with Manny. it must be a Wildcard thing but if i was fighting Khan then my tactic would be to get my head on his shoulder bully him to the ropes and work away. i think Bradley "could" do that, i've got Bradley vs Khan to settle 140lb undisputed and i think it's a toss up

I've always felt Bradley would be the easiest at Jr Welterweight for Khan, he's a small Jr Welterweight with little pop, Khan's jab will break him down and his speed will surprise bucket head.

Kendall Holt was always my worry for Khan but he's fallen off the radar.

Ali wrote:I've always felt Bradley would be the easiest at Jr Welterweight for Khan, he's a small Jr Welterweight with little pop, Khan's jab will break him down and his speed will surprise bucket head.

Kendall Holt was always my worry for Khan but he's fallen off the radar.

the only thing is that Bradley fights on the inside, it's a trade that British fighters never come to learn. Bradley will tie Khan up, use hios head, shoulders, elbows.... Khan will have to be far more elusive and punch with much more authority if he is going to keep Bradley from fighting his fight. I really rate Bradley highly and i rate Khan highly and think that is a great great fight. Anyway a lot of criticism for Amir on here, i think he should be getting a lot more respect for last night, he put on a gritty performance

dbudge wrote:

Ali wrote:I've always felt Bradley would be the easiest at Jr Welterweight for Khan, he's a small Jr Welterweight with little pop, Khan's jab will break him down and his speed will surprise bucket head.

Kendall Holt was always my worry for Khan but he's fallen off the radar.

the only thing is that Bradley fights on the inside, it's a trade that British fighters never come to learn. Bradley will tie Khan up, use hios head, shoulders, elbows.... Khan will have to be far more elusive and punch with much more authority if he is going to keep Bradley from fighting his fight. I really rate Bradley highly and i rate Khan highly and think that is a great great fight. Anyway a lot of criticism for Amir on here, i think he should be getting a lot more respect for last night, he put on a gritty performance

I don't see Khan allowing Bradley to make it an inside battle, he'll control the center of the ring and will keep Bradley at bay with his solid jab and lightning fast combos. And let's not forget Bradley isn't Maidana, he's not as durable or as tough.

we don't know that he isn't as durable as Maidana. he's been down in fights and always got up to dominate. Bradley is a tough guy from what i've seen. i don't think he punches anywhere near as hard though and that could be the difference. Khan could take more risks instead of having to quickly unload and get out sacrificing power for speed. if he could sit down on his punches against Bradley then he could stop him but Bradley is an elusive fighter. he's got that Slick style that ESPN message board goes crazy for

That's the one major flaw about Khan, hehardly sits down on his punches, he's too busy moving around the ring and worrying about his defense.

Ali wrote:That's the one major flaw about Khan, hehardly sits down on his punches, he's too busy moving around the ring and worrying about his defense.

That's one of the things I mean by his movement without purpose. He should move less after punching and then punch again. he should also stop hooking like a girl

The Kid's got stones though.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

Ali wrote:That's the one major flaw about Khan, hehardly sits down on his punches, he's too busy moving around the ring and worrying about his defense.

That's one of the things I mean by his movement without purpose. He should move less after punching and then punch again. he should also stop hooking like a girl

The Kid's got stones though.

I am still in shock by last nights fight, I never expected Khan to tough it out like that.

i agree ali, i thought Khan would either be on his bike all night or out cold on his back. i didn't expect the fight to be as close as that. even after Khan was hurt in the 10th he came out scoring in the 11th. i didn't expect him to back up onto the ropes like he did and try and rely on covering up, he was fighting like Manny when he was doing that but it wasn't allowing them long arms to get free to work so he should really avoid doing that. i think his game plan may have gone out of the window after he knocked down Maidana in the 1st. if he had scored that punch 30 seconds earlier then i don't think Maidana would have made it out. what surprised me after that was that Khan didn't go there again at any point in the fight. it was a real nail-biter though, and Maidana has a granite chin

there is alot of things that Roach can fix
abandoning the jab was a big mistake. Whenever he popped it out there with something on it he won the round easily

neglecting the body after receiving return fire. Just because you might get hit with a counter doesn't mean you can stop going to the body (especially when those shots are hurting the brawler coming after your ass)

on the inside just covering up and standing there. Roach has to teach him how to hold properly. He has to teach him how to not square up on the inside. He has to teach him how to do more than cover up and pray when someone is in close.

moving too much. The rounds where he boxed by throwing an effective jab and powerful right hand follows he was effective. Alot of rounds he was moving way too much and trying to flick the shots rather than sitting down and doing some damage.

Ali wrote:Kendall Holt was always my worry for Khan but he's fallen off the radar.

Holt get's the Zab Award for wasted potential

GrantZilla wrote:

Ali wrote:Kendall Holt was always my worry for Khan but he's fallen off the radar.

Holt get's the Zab Award for wasted potential

fallen off the radar. He's done. Put a fork in him.

dbudge wrote:Anyway a lot of criticism for Amir on here, i think he should be getting a lot more respect for last night, he put on a gritty performance.

I hold Khan to a higher standard than other fighters. I think he can be special, and his gritty performance was harder than it had to be.

captainanddew wrote:neglecting the body after receiving return fire. Just because you might get hit with a counter doesn't mean you can stop going to the body (especially when those shots are hurting the brawler coming after your ass)

Khan supposedly neglected the body because of the idea of return fire. He didn't take any punches as a result of going to the body.

captainanddew wrote:on the inside just covering up and standing there. Roach has to teach him how to hold properly. He has to teach him how to not square up on the inside. He has to teach him how to do more than cover up and pray when someone is in close.

Yes. I don't want Khan v. Bradley (if he wins) to be Kessler v. Ward II.[/quote]

Khan still hasn't settled. He doesn't look completely comfortable in the ring. He's a little bit too jumpy and a little bit too overeager. Mares was the same way in his fight. However, because Khan fought a guy who never goes away or slows down it showed more because he faded some.