British Boxing

British Boxing News

Amir Khan signs deal with Showtime for three fights

khan4343By Michael Collins: Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) may not be with HBO anymore following his losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia, but he’s now signed on with Showtime for a three fight deal, which should take him through the end up next year.

A three fight deal is a nice safe number for Showtime because if things go to pieces with Khan in terms of him getting knocked out left and right then Showtime won’t be left with a lemon that nobody in the boxing world wants to see.

It’s likely that Khan won’t run into trouble for his first fight of his contract with Showtime because he’s being mentioned as possibly taking on Josesito Lopez in April. That’s a very winnable fight for Khan, because Lopez, as good as he is, he’s not really a puncher.

He’s just a guy with a lot of heart that likes to go to war with his opponents despite not being a huge puncher and not being all that fast either. Lopez would have likely lost to Victor Ortiz had Ortiz not quit on his stool after the 9th round.

Khan could end up fighting Danny Garcia in the middle of 2013. I honestly don’t believe that Golden Boy Promotions will make this fight, I really don’t. If they make that fight it’ll be like them putting another loss on Khan’s record because he’s really not ready to fight Garcia again.

Fury trashes Deontay Wilder and David Price

fury5423By Jeff Sorby: Big 6’9” unbeaten former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KO’s) didn’t see much he liked of Deontay Wilder (26-0, 26 KO’s) in watching his 3rd round knockout win over Kelvin Price (13-1, 6 KO’s) last Saturday night.

Fury sees Wilder as having little more than his right hand going for him, and he doesn’t think that’s going to be enough for Wilder to amount to much in the heavyweight division. Fury, 24, also thinks that his recent opponent Kevin Johnson would beat Wilder if the two guys went at it.

Fury said on his social media site twitter “Just watched Wilder fight! Not impressed at all. He couldn’t beat Kevin Johnson! Very raw and open to big shots. Long way to go; big punch. Wilder and [David] Price are the same, untested hype! To be a top fighter you need more than a punch! They have a long way to go. Why not fight each other.”

Fury isn’t giving Wilder much credit for his knockout win over Price for some reason. To be sure, Wilder did look really raw in that fight, and he definitely needs a lot of improvement.

Amir Khan successful in first fight with new trainer Virgil Hunter

Amir Khan successful in first fight with new trainer Virgil Hunter

by Geoffrey Ciani, photos by Tom Casino / Showtime – Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KOs) ended a two fight losing streak when he impressively defeated an overmatched Carlos Molina (17-1-1, 7 KOs) last night in Los Angeles. This marked the first time Khan was paired up with new head trainer Virgil Hunter, who is best known for his long term working relationship with rising pound-for-pound superstar Andre Ward. The new team made a good impression in their first effort together, with Khan in complete control of the action that ultimately came to an end when Molina’s corner stopped the contest after the tenth.

Even though Khan and Hunter have only worked together eight weeks, Hunter already seemed to have a visible impact on Khan’s performance. Amir was very patient in the early going and was measured in his approach, especially when it came to attacking. Everything for Khan started with his jab, and this helped create openings where he could unleash short three and four punch combinations that possessed a nice blend of speed and precision. He would throw a short series of shots, reposition himself, throw another combination, and then calmly take a stroll to establish new perspective, resetting the action where he could resume controlling the range to his liking. As Showtime commentator Paulie Malignaggi noted, “There he goes again, Khan is taking a walk”. Amir was composed.

Can Amir Khan reclimb to the summit?

By Frank Walsh: Amir Khan’s career hung in the balance as he made his way to trade leather with fellow pugilist Carlos Molina. In truth this was set up as a winnable fight for Khan, against an undefeated fighter with flaws that played to Khan’s strengths.

Groves defeats Johnson in one-sided fight

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By Michael Collins: Sometimes you have to wonder why fights like this get put together in the first place. Tonight, unbeaten #2 WBO, #4 WBC, #7 WBA, #8 IBF Commonwealth super middleweight champion George Groves (16-0, 12 KO’s) successfully defended his domestic level title against a way his best his prime 43-year-old Glen Johnson (51-18-2, 35 KO’s) in winning a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 120-107, 120-107 and 119-109 at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, in London, United Kingdom.

This fight had mismatch written all over it before the fight was even made, because Johnson had been retired and lost four out of his last five fights coming into the bout. Groves had predicted that he would knock Johnson out, but he never came close to doing that despite trying hard to stop Johnson in every round.

Groves unloaded everything but the kitchen sink on Johnson in rounds 1, 6, 7 and 12, but he didn’t go anywhere. But what Groves did show in going all out was a lack of discipline because he didn’t seem to have a clue that all that he was doing was hitting gloves for the most part, and leaving himself open for huge shots from Johnson. I lost track of all the times that Johnson tagged Groves with shots that would have knocked him cold if Johnson was a little younger.

Khan beats Molina, calls out Danny Garcia after fight

003KhanvictoryIMG_5867By Steve Mabbot,Photos: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME – Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) picked up the WBC Silver light welterweight strap tonight with a nice 10th round stoppage win over Carlos Molina (17-1, 7 KO’s) on Showtime television. After the fight an excited Khan said “I’m ready to fight Danny Garcia anytime, anyplace.”

It was Garcia that knocked Khan out last July in the 4th round. Khan hasn’t enjoyed the sting of the loss, as he said tonight “He [Garcia] got lucky. He caught me with a good shot.”

Khan doesn’t look ready to be fighting Garcia right now, because Molina was able to hit him frequently in the early rounds with left hooks and right hands. If Molina was three inches taller and had the power of Garcia, I have no doubts that Khan would have been knocked out again because Khan was leaving himself open a lot when throwing his flurries.

Khan did box more in the fight, but he was still throwing a lot of flurries in each round that would give someone like Garcia plenty of opportunities to knock him out again if Khan were to fight like that in a rematch with him.

Khan defeats Molina; Wilder, Angulo, Santa Cruz win

khan56By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) stopped a badly overmatched, undersized, and underpowered 5’6′ Carlos Molina (17-1, 7 KO’s) in the 10th round on Saturday night to win the vacant WBC Silver light welterweight title at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. The fight was halted after the 10th by Molina’s corner.

Khan really dominated this fight with his size and speed, as he rarely gave the much shorter and weaker Molina opportunities to land his shots.

Khan’s promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions seemed to stumble over his words when interviewed after the fight and asked if he’d be interested in matching Khan with WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia. Schaefer said that Garcia has a fight in February and that he plans on getting Khan back in the ring in April.

Khan in make or break fight against Molina

By Marcus Richardson: Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) is limping into his fight tomorrow night against Carlos Molina still licking his wounds from his last two fights against Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia. Khan lost both of those fights and looked like a fighter that didn’t have the talent to fight at the top level. Khan has now dumped his trainer Freddie Roach and replaced him with Virgil Hunter. Khan thinks that Hunter can turn his career around, and lead him to another world title.