I don’t know how widely liked the sport is across this forum but I thought I’d reach out…
This week I have been reading a lot of talk about life after the big two (Pacman and Mayweather) and a particular focus on the kind of names we will soon be arguing over in the pound for pound lists and pay per view figures.
The main names have been Canelo Alvarez, Andre Ward, Amir Khan, Nonito Donaire, Gary Russell Jr and Adrien Broner.
As a Brit I am hoping to see Khan continue to rise and I think he has the fundamentals plus the marketable features needed to make it to the top. I feel Donaire, Ward and Khan will make up the top end of the P4P list in the future but whether or not they will be the biggest names is another story.
Khan’s definitely the first person that came to mind when I saw this thread.
The British following, Freddie Roach and the nice guy attitude I think could really help him become a star if he keeps going the way he has.
Maybe Maidana could go places if he got a trainer that could teach him how to box a bit more. But he’s a lot of fun to watch either way so I personally hope he gets some good fights. Everyone loves a good slugger, so I think Maidana has some serious star potential.
If Maidana gained anything in the way of fundamentals I think he’d be able to bring it with the elites. But at the moment I think he really lacks that slither of technical skill needed to make a big step up.
Gamboa is a slugger that might make a star as well. He’s extremely quick and a hell of a puncher, a very attractive fighter. However, he does hold his hands ridiculously low. Just bring his gloves up and we’re in business!
Find Khan to have quite an unappealing personality, he has a sort of an incompetent arrogance. Being British and good is normally enough in itself to get a following, though.
He is a beautiful fighter to watch. Almost Hearns like with his physique and skills. That chin though, only a matter of time. He’ll be an upper echelon fighter, world class, but won’t dent the pound for pound lists IMHO. He’ll get put on his back by an elite fighter.
I don’t follow boxing as closely as I used to, but a great UK prospect from a few years back was Frankie Gavin. One of the very few fighters to have ever won a gold medal at the world amateur championships. He failed to make weight at the last olympics, though, which was a massive setback as he would have been a competitive medal prospect. He turned pro and is undefeated, but it’s early days - he’s still fighting at national level.
They reckon he’s on the verge of the P4P rankings now and a victory over Petersen (depending on the nature of the victory) could see him make the step. Having beaten and at times even traded with Maidana, I refuse to believe that his chin is enough to stop him topping the list.
It will be a major detail in his career and big punchers will always look to do that damage. But there are many weak chinned fighters that have made it to the very top, it just requires a lot of technical and physical skill. I think Khan has enough.
Did you have anyone in mind? Because I can’t think of any truly weak-chinned fighters who have made it to the top in recent times. Average chins, yes, but Khan-level chins, no way. He got sat down by a Scottish painter and decorator in one of his earlier fights (Willy Limond).
Wladimir got knocked out by a couple of journeymen fighters early on in his career, so I guess would be a top fighter with a reputation of being chinny. Heavyweight is a different game though, and Wlad has improved massively. I guess in this respect you’re right, skill and intelligence can massively mitigate a suspect beard. I mentioned that I don’t care for Khan’s personality, but I would genuinely like to see him dominate just on the basis of his skills. Very impressive fighter and he has shown a lot of character to come back from that bad defeat he had.
Well off the top of my head I’d say Thomas Hearns was the best example. You also have Felix Trinidad, who went down quite a few times. Roy Jones Jr was known for having a bit of a suspect chin. Norton, Terry Norris, even Joe Louis went down quite a few times.
I think that there is too much focus on the early years of Khan’s career. He was fighting at a weight he was wholly uncomfortable at (he struggled to make weight pretty much from the point he turned pro) and he was not working with strength and conditioning coaches to develop a body that had a greater resistance. His shape was all wrong for the type of fighter he was and for the type of chin he has.
No doubt he has a suspect chin but that night in hell with Maidana proved that the work he has done both with Ariza and with Roach (and his move up in weight) has done a significant amount to improve his chin.
Patterson was pretty chinny. I really don’t think Khan has a horrible chin tho. I think he was struggling to make weight against Prescot and also got caught with a great shot.
I really thought Paul Williams was gonna be huge, but it just wasn’t in the cards I guess.
I look for Ward to do really well in his career as well. Can’t believe he’s been brought along so slowly, but it’s probably for the best.
I think the only trouble facing Ward is the charge that he is ‘too boring’. I’ve heard it time and time again. Personally, I enjoy watching him. What’s not to enjoy about such a skilled technician? But it may hamper his marketability in the future.
I think that is a fair enough assessment and I think the Hearns comparison is a good one (oh! for the Hagler, Hearns, Leonard era again!).
But…and it is a big but. For all his shortcomings he seems to have a very rare trait. He learns. Or at least he seems to. If he can stop himself reverting to type when in a true war then he may well find himself right up there.
Petersen will certainly be an interesting test for him, Havoc is massively underrated in my eyes.
He’s not a huge hitter but a very technical boxer that works well on the inside. He will be awkward for Khan and whilst I still see Khan taking this I think it will be close and both fighter will gain a lot of experience from it.
You called it well - albeit with Khan losing (somewhat harshly) on the cards. Good fight I thought, and a big reality check for Khan. He seemed to get comprehensively outworked on the inside, a really poor defensive display combined with him generally fighting at a level below his best. Maybe that’s unfair on Peterson, who pulled out a big performance - still, they say you always have to unequivocally take the belt off the champ, no ifs, buts or maybes - I didn’t think he (Peterson) did that myself.
Khan taking on the likes of Floyd looks a million miles away at the moment. I think a re-match with Peterson is on the cards? Khan is fortunate to have a UK fanbase that will guarantee he can get fights - other fighters wouldn’t benefit from extra lives in quite the same way.
I agree with all of that, but Khan still should have won the fight, and would have if not for the ridiculous 2 two points taking away for pushing. I’ve been watching boxing for over 30 years, and I’ve never even seen a ref give a warning for pushing, let alone take points away.