Amir Khan returns home on April 16th when he defends his WBA light welterweight be against European champion Paul McCloskey in Manchester, England. For Khan it is a return to the scene of his title victory over Andriy Kotelnik while for McCloskey it is his first chance to make an impression at world level.
What appears on paper to be a gimme homecoming fight for Khan could turn out to be an awkward night if he isn’t totally focused. There are major parallels to a fight which took place in the very same arena almost 12 years ago to the day when the precociously gifted Naseem Hamed took on his fellow Englishman Paul Ingle. Ingle stepped up from British level and announced himself on the world stage by forcing a lackluster Hamed into one of the toughest fights of his career, before succumbing to the Sheffield man’s superior power in the penultimate round.
McCloskey may be an unknown to many, and a no hoper to others, but the Irishman is a talented southpaw box fighter and has developed into a capable European champion. He is facing a huge step up in class from the likes of his 2010 victims Barry Morrison and the faded Giuseppe Lauri but he will be aware that at 31 years of age, he has to grab this unexpected opportunity.
While the challenger may be an unknown quantity outside of the British Isles, he owns a solid 22-0 record with 12 stoppages and victories over respected veterans Giuseppi Lauri and Cesar Bazan being complemented by wins over battle hardened domestic opponents like Colin Lynes and Nigel Wright. McCloskey has stopped all 5 opponents since stepping into championship class and having followed the traditional route of winning and defending the British and European titles, deserves a chance to win a world title as much as anybody. In the modern era, wherein ring achievements are sometimes overlooked in favor of commercial appeal, it is refreshing to see a fighter who has done things the old fashioned way being rewarded for his efforts.
The Derry born southpaw carries his right hand low and looks to draw his opponents lead before countering with a stabbing jab and accurate straight lefts and right hooks. The right hook is a particular useful weapon and accounted for Lauri in the 11th round of their battle. At European level he has proved to be relatively elusive but will be playing a dangerous game if he looks to employ his usual tactics and counter punch a fighter as fast and technical as Khan.
The Irishman may also take confidence from this week’s announcement that Khan has already reached an agreement to face Bradley. There are too many instances to mention of fighters looking towards future matches instead of the supposedly easy one they have lined up first, and ‘Dudey’ will be in the best condition of his career, ready to grab even the slightest opportunity presented to him should the champion take his eye off the matter in hand.
Whereas McCloskey is readying himself for his first appearance on the biggest stage, the champion’s stock has never been higher. His thrilling victory over Marcos Maidana in December not only won the Ring Magazine award for “Fight Of The Year” but also went a long way towards silencing the critics who have doubted his chin since his first round capitulation at the hands of Breidis Prescott over two years ago. The lackluster nature of the much hyped bout between his 140lb contemporaries Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander has increased Khan’s standing in the division and should he prevail against McCloskey the recently agreed Khan –Bradley fight on July 23rd will be one of the most highly anticipated bouts of 2011.
See our junior welterweight division rankings and take a look at where Khan, Bradley and the rest are ranked
Khan is a household name in the UK and his fights are real events which attract the casual fan. The Maidana clash created plenty of headlines and Khan received a huge amount of praise for the bravery he showed to withstand that horrific 10th round and prevail. It was the first time he has received widespread acclaim from the British public since turning professional and it was somewhat of a watershed moment for the Boltonian. Prior to his breakthrough performance, Khan had been a love/hate type figure with a huge number of fans tuning in to see him get beaten. Since beating Maidana, it seems like the number of fans disparaging Khan is dwindling and it will be interesting to see the reception he receives on fight night.
Although McCloskey doesn’t carry the name appeal of a Barrera, Maidana or Prescott, the M.E.N arena is already reporting good ticket sales and with a large number of McCloskey fans expected to make the short trip across the Irish channel there should be a real ‘big fight’ atmosphere inside the famous arena come fight time.
Since the Maidana victory, Khan has been embroiled in battles outside the ring. An argument about the purse McCloskey would receive put the clash in doubt before a deal was eventually reached and, more importantly, he endured a very public split from his fitness and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. It is beyond dispute that conditioning played a major part in Khan getting through the final rounds of the Maidana fight and it remains to be seen if the old fragility will return should that aspect of his preparation fall below those levels.
The fight may lack the appeal of Khan taking on the other stars of the 140lb division, but it promises to be an entertaining all British clash between an established champion and a proud, deserving challenger played out in front of a raucous capacity crowd. With a Bradley fight looming large on the horizon, what more could fight fans ask for?
