Amir Khan

Amir Khan boxing news

Schaefer looking for an opponent for Malignaggi’s next fight

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By Bill Phanco: WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi is in need of an opponent after his desired rematch against big British star Ricky Hatton fell through due to Hatton getting blasted out by Vyacheslav Senchenko last Saturday night in the UK. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is now looking at picking out Malignaggi’s next opponent from one of these fighters: Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, Andre Berto, and Adrien Broner, according to RingTV.

Malignaggi, 32, wants a big name for his next title defense and this may be his last chance to get a big name before gets beaten. Malignaggi almost lost his title in his last fight against fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano, who Malignaggi barely beat by a 12 round decision last October in a 12 round split decision win. That fight showed that Malignaggi is vulnerable even against fringe level opposition, and that puts more pressure on Schaefer to try and get the biggest name he can because Malignaggi is so vulnerable.

Khan: He’s already beaten Malignaggi and Khan has his own problems right now having lost twice in a row.

Berto: This is winnable fight for Malignaggi but not an easy one because of Berto’s superior power. This wouldn’t be big fight for Malignaggi.

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Will Virgil Hunter make a difference for Amir Khan?

Will Virgil Hunter make a difference for Amir Khan?By Robert Jackson: After seeing Alfredo Angulo – following a 10 month respite from the ring, KO Raul Casarez Saturday night, it had me wondering how effective would Amir Khan be in his next fight. Both Angulo and Khan now train under Virgil Hunters watchful eye and if Angulo’s performance was any indication, Khan may have made the right choice and can be expected to perform excellently.

After the fight ended, Hunter was the first one in the ring to offer support to his charge, there was a genuine closeness between the 2 men that could be seen as both men embraced each other. Hunter remained at Angulo’s side keeping the emotional Angulo calm as El Perro answered post fight questions posed by Showtime’s Jim Gray.

What was as wonderful as the comraderie between Angulo and Hunter was the near flawless performance that Angulo put on that saw him quicker and stealthier in his boxing technique than in previous fights. Granted Casarez has a lot to learn as a fighter, he hadn’t lost in 5 years and is highly regarded as an up-and-coming middleweight. Angulo’s body also looked leaner than he’s looked before.

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Khan vs. Molina: Amir can’t afford to lose

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) is in a dire situation going into his December 15th Showtime televised bout against unbeaten American Carlos Molina (17-0, 7 KO’s) at the Sports Arena, in Los Angeles, California. Khan, 26, is coming into the fight with losses in his last two fights and he’s now in a situation where he really can’t afford a third straight loss if he wants to remain relevant.

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Khan vs. Molina: Amir in the rebuilding stage of his career – and Showtime will be televising

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By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan is being matched against a lightweight in his next fight when he takes on unbeaten Carlos Molina (17-0, 7 KO’s) on Showtime on December 15th at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. This is a rebuilding fight for Khan, as he’s lost his last two fights against light welterweights and has looked terrible in both fights.

His former trainer Freddie Roach has been let go, and Khan is now being trained by Virgil Hunter, the same guy that trains WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward. The idea here is that Hunter will rebuild Khan and hopefully slow him down to where he’s not running around the ring in a senseless manner like he’s been doing his entire career. Hunter will then try also to fix Khan’s defense, which isn’t that bad. His defense isn’t the problem. It’s his chin and his tendency to trade too much.

Hunter will need to get cooperation from Khan in order for him to make the needed changes for Khan. Hunter may have problems getting Khan to follow his instructions, especially once Khan starts finding a little success with the soft matchmaking that’s likely going to continue even past the Molina mismatch.

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Hatton can’t decide who he’d do better against – Khan or Kell Brook

Hatton can't decide who he'd do better against - Khan or Kell BrookBy Michael Collins: Former two division world champion Ricky Hatton returns to the ring next month against former WBA World welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko on November 24th in Manchester, England. If Hatton looks really good in blowing out Senchenko, he could find the pressure mounting for him to fight Amir Khan or Kell Brook in fights that would be positively huge in the UK. Hatton, 33, still wants to prove himself worthy of facing both of those guys by getting past Senchenko in style and perhaps some other fighters.

In an interview by Kugan Cassius of IFilm London, Hatton said “It’s really hard to say [who Hatton would do better against]. I’d have to sit on the fence and go right down the middle. If Amir Khan gets drawn into a fight, it goes to the blue corner. But if Amir sticks to his boxing ability and moves and uses his hand speed, then obviously you’d have to side with Amir by a slight edge. I really can’t split between the two of them.”

Hatton goes onto say that he has to prove himself against Senchenko before he’s mentioned with Khan and Brook. However, I just wonder how much Hatton will have proven even if he does blow out Senchenko.

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Khan vs Molina on Showtime on December 15th

Khan vs Molina on Showtime on December 15thBy Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) now has a venue, a U.S cable network carrier and a date for his next fight against lightweight Carlos Molina (17-0, 17 KO’s). Khan, 25, will be fighting Molina on December 15th on Showtime on in the U.S. a the Sports Arena, in Los Angeles, California. It’s a date the conflicts with a Top Rank card headlined by WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley possibly against light welterweight Lamont Peterson on HBO. As such, the audience for both fights will be much less than could be, not either of the main events are all that interesting.

One question you have to wonder about is whether Khan’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions attempted to sell the Khan vs. Molina fight to HBO first and were turned down? HBO is where Khan’s fights have been televised recently in the U.S, and there have been rumors that they previously turned offers of Khan vs. Joan Guzman and Khan vs. Humberto Soto. If so, then it’s not surprising that they might have turned down Khan-Molina because this fight would seem a much bigger mismatch than those fight.

I’d pick Guzman and Soto to beat Molina every day of the week. I rate them as much better fighters than Molina. Not even close. The only thing that I can see that Molina has going for him is an unbeaten record but those wins have come against weak opposition, so it’s really not surprising that he still has an unbeaten record.

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Khan to unveil his new defense against Carlos Molina in December

Khan to unveil his new defense against Carlos Molina in DecemberBy Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) will unveil his new defensive skills learned from his new trainer Virgil Hunter when Khan faces 5’6″ lightweight Carlos Molina (17-0, 7 KO’s) in December in a still to be determined date. December 15th is the most likely date for the Khan-Molina fight, and it’s still not official that the fight will be aired on Showtime in the United States, although that’s what’s being said.

Khan said to Sky Sports News “I’m going to work on a new defense, new tactics for the next fight…I think Virgil Hunter will bring out the best in me…I was winning the fight against Danny Garcia quite easily and then I started to getting into a fight with him which is not my stye.”

Hunter is a trainer that is known for his ability teach defensive techniques. He did a great job on building WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward from a young fighter to a champion. However, Hunter can teach things but Khan has to be willing to learn what he’s being told and apply in the ring. Teaching skills like defense takes a long time because a lot of fighters tend to fall back into their old habits when the going gets tough and they start getting hit.

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Can Virgil Hunter help Khan’s return?

Can Virgil Hunter help Khan's return?by Robert Jackson: News Flash – Amir Khan has left the Freddie Roach camp and now trains under Andre Wards’ trainer Virgil Hunter. Also part of the Hunter camp are fighters Mike Dallas Jr, and Alfredo Angulo – both of whom turned to Hunter after ‘falling hard’ under their previous trainers. Last time we saw Khan in the ring he was getting KO’d by WBC 140lb Champion Danny Garcia. During that fight Khan abandoned his boxing pedigree showing a lot of heart to engage in an exciting street fight, to his own disadvantage.

Also during that fight Freddie Roach was unable to get Khan to follow the game plan and was unable to tell Khan anything in the corner that Khan would obey. Instead Khan threw caution to the wind and engaged in the type of battle that gave Garcia the advantage. After that loss Khan’s team approached Roach with new terms which included making Khan his TOP priority demoting other Roach fighters including Manny Pacquiao to lower priority to make Khan the TOP dog. To this Roach refused.

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Khan vs. Molina fight to be televised on Showtime

Khan vs. Molina fight to be televised on ShowtimeBy Michael Collins: Showtime reportedly has bought the Amir Khan vs. Carlos Molina fight to televise on their network on December, according to Steve Kim of Maxboxing.com. The Khan-Molina fight could also have unbeaten heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder fighting on the undercard against an unknown opponent. Molina, 5’6″, is a lightweight contender and would be moving up in weight to face the bigger, faster and stronger Khan. Presumably, the Khan-Molina fight was offered to HBO first but it doesn’t appear there was much interest from them.

A Khan vs. Molina would have been an okay fight for Khan to take earlier in his career but it does seem a tad out of place to be taking place now that he’s a former two-time world champion. There’s also the question about whether a Khan-Molina fight is worthy of being a main event for Showtime. I think it would be an okay ESPN2 level main event but not for Showtime. You’d expect a lot better than this given the size, power and talent differences between Khan and his smaller opponent Molina.

It’s been two years since Molina scored a knockout, which tells you a lot about his power or lack thereof. Molina has been facing little more than B and C level opposition and yet he’s not able to even knock them out.

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