What’s Next for Amir Khan?
After stopping New York trashtalker Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden’s theater, Britain’s WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan stated publicly that his next goal was to unify the division.
With that in mind it is perhaps a little surprising that all the media talk about his next opponent has centred on fighters competing at the next division down, lightweight, in Australia’s Michael Katsidis and Cuban former super-featherweight and lightweight champion Joel Casamayor.
In fairness to Khan, both Katsidis and Casamayor are undoubtedly world-class fighters and a clash against either one would be interesting. It could even be argued that the above opponents would make for a more commercially attractive fight than any one at light-welterweight, excluding the currently inactive Ricky Hatton.
But for me, if Khan is genuinely bent on unifying the light-welterweight division – and I sincerely hope he is – then he really needs to go after WBO titleholder Timothy Bradley or IBF and WBC champion Devon Alexander as soon as possible.
To be honest, it is highly unlikely that either Khan, Alexander, Bradley or any other boxer in the division will be allowed to capture all four titles without being stripped of at least one along the way. With that in mind, as long as he beats the division’s best active fighters, which Bradley and Alexander would certainly represent at the moment, it probably doesn’t matter which one he fights first.
But if I was a matchmaker I would advise Amir to try to tackle Bradley first provided the American gets past Luis Carlos Abregu in his next bout. While beating Alexander would land Khan two more titles, I think beating Bradley would enhance his reputation more greatly because it is Bradley who seems more highly regarded among boxing press and fans.
Bradley is higher than Alexander in both The Ring magazine’s and Boxing News’ divisional ratings – as number one contender – and is listed at number one overall in the Pro Boxing Fans rankings. Secondly, although neither is quite a marquee name at the moment, Bradley is the more marginally well known of the two in the UK, having taken Junior Witter’s WBC title from him in Nottingham in May 2008.
With that in mind, and the fact that Alexander appears to be the heavier hitter of the two, Bradley probably represents a slightly better risk-reward ratio for Khan, who for all his improvements under Freddie Roach has yet to tackle a genuine ‘banger’ since Breidis Prescott knocked him out in one round in September 2008.
While Khan’s defense has definitely come on hugely since that fateful night, Roach’s desire to ‘build up’ a clash with knockout-specialist Marcos Maidana rather than accommodate the number one contender straight away suggests there is still some trepidation about throwing Khan in with a genuine puncher. Bradley has great movement, notable speed, is always in impeccable condition and hits respectably – as Witter can attest after being dropped in round seven of their clash – but he hasn’t scored a legitimate stoppage since Nasser Athumani in April 2007.
On the other hand Alexander has stopped his last five opponents, and while Witter’s retirement after eight rounds was due to injury, the Saint Louis resident’s one-punch knockout of then-IBF champion Juan Urango was definite proof he has genuine concussive power at top level.
Khan vs. Bradley would be a top-class tactical match, and would obviously represent a risk to Khan, but the Olympic silver medalist will be favored by some in that type of contest. Khan vs. Alexander threatens to provide more fireworks, something Khan will probably be slightly keen to avoid given his evasive style and still-suspect chin.
Finally, a four-belt unification fight is more likely if each fighter involved has two belts, rather than one with three, just because there will be fewer mandatory contenders each one has to beat or pay step aside cash to make the big fight happen.
To be honest, whether Khan agrees to fight either titleholder, Casamayor, Katsidis or even Juan Manuel Marquez, as was discussed before the Malignaggi fight was signed, it should make for fascinating viewing. But if Khan is serious about wrapping up the light-welterweight division, it should be Bradley first, then Alexander – provided the latter gets past his next opponent Andriy Kotelnik.
But things in boxing are rarely ever that straight forward and if Bradley, Alexander or Khan fall at the next hurdle, then we will be no further from having a unified light-welterweight champion than we are now.
