Don’t jump on the Amir Khan band wagon just yet

003KhanvictoryIMG_5867by Paul Strauss, photo by Tom Casino / Showtime: Yes, Khan looked impressive on Showtime against Carlos Molina last night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. His hand and foot speed were there. But, they’ve always been there. Initially last night, there did seem to be one thing that was different. Khan seemed calmer and less herky-jerky. He walked and shuffled when out of range instead of hopping and running. But, Molina’s smaller stature, short arms and less than knockout power provided the opportunity for Khan to show off a bit.

The fact is Khan is still very hittable. The shorter Molina tagged him plenty of times, but unfortunately for Molina, he just doesn’t have true junior welterweight power. Khan’s people knew that when the match was made. As a result of that power deficiency, Khan was able to take risks, to stay in the pocket more often than he should have, and to show off with shoe-shine like displays without real risk of penalty.

The fact is Khan still drops his hands when attempting to rip off combinations. For example, when throwing his left, whether a jab or hook, his right glove is still too low, which allowed Molina to land several counter left hooks. Khan doesn’t get under the shot either.

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Deontay Wilder targeting Bryant Jennings for next fight

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By Jeff Sorby: Undefeated heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (26-0, 26 KO’s) wants to fight undefeated heavyweight prospect Bryant Jennings (16-0, 8 KO’s) next after Wilder defeated previously unbeaten Kevlin Price (13-1, 6 KO’s) by a 3rd round knockout on Saturday night at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. Wilder knocked Price out with a monster right hand in the 3rd round to get the knockout win.

After the fight Wilder said this as quoted by RingTV “I want to be back in the ring as soon as possible, and I definitely want Bryant Jennings. I want him…the fans want it. There can only be one of us.”

That would be a good fight but also a potentially difficult one for Wilder right now because he would absolutely have to knock Jennings out in order to win the fight because Jennings’ style is more suited to winning a decision Wilder’s fight style. Jennings throws a lot of punches, has a great jab, and has decent but not great power.

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Khan injures both hands in win over Molina

By Bill Phanco: Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) may have looked like he was enjoying himself in dominating an over-matched Carlos Molina (17-1, 7 KO’s) last Saturday night in bludgeoning him into a 10th round stoppage win, but Khan ended up fracturing both hands in doing so.

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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.

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Josesito Lopez likely next opponent for Amir Khan

By Brad Cronick: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is talking about matching Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) against Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s) in his next fight in April, according to Lance Pugmire of LA Times. Khan, however, fractured both of his hands in beating Carlos Molina (17-1, 7 KO’s) by a 10th round TKO last Saturday night and that could be a problem for Khan. It depends on how well his injured hands heal. But Lopez will still likely be the next opponent for Khan.

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Leo Santa Cruz Impresses In Boxing’s Return To Network Television

Alberto Guevara vs Leo Santa Cruz Photos by Tom Casino/SHOWTIME and Esther Lin/SHOWTIME — Professional boxing returned to the CBS Television Network on Saturday afternoon for the first time in 15 years. In SHOWTIME Sports presentation of “SHOWTIME BOXING on CBS,” unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz capped a spectacular year by retaining his International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Bantamweight Championship with an exciting and closely contested 12-round unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Alberto Guevara, live on CBS from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

Santa Cruz (23-0-1, 13 KO’s), of Los Angeles, won the lone bout on the CBS broadcast, the network’s first since Bernard Hopkins knocked out Glen Johnson on Jan. 20, 1997, by the scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. Making his initial start in the United States, Guevara (16-1, 6 KO’s) of San Diego, Calif., made it close for six rounds but couldn’t sustain his momentum as Santa Cruz came on strongly to close the show.

Santa Cruz was making the third defense of the IBF 118-pound title he won with a 12-round decision over Vusi Malinga last June 2 on SHOWTIME®. In his two defenses, both also on SHOWTIME, he knocked out Eric Morel and Victor Zaleta in September and November, respectively.

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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.

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Donaire destroys Arce in 3rd round TKO!

Donaire_Arce_121215_001aBy Bill Phanco, Photo: Chris Farina – Top Tank — In a dreadful mismatch, WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) totally annihilated a smaller and older Jorge Arce (61-7-2, 46 KO’s) in stopping him in the 3rd round in front of a large crowd at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Arce was down three times in the fight and put out of his misery with a hard left hook in the 3rd round that knocked him out.

Arce, 33, was down once in the 1st round and another two times in the 3rd round.In an interview after the fight. Arce said he was retiring. He made a reported $800,000 for the fight.

The first knockdown occurred in the 1st round when Donaire bumped into Arce, sending him to the canvas. The referee blew the call and scored it as a knockdown. Arce did very little in the round and just looked like he was afraid to get hit.

In the 2nd, Arce came out a lot more aggressive and was immediately dropped by a right hand from Donaire. After the knockdown, Arce was a little more aggressive as the took the fight to Donaire, but the action was still largely controlled by Donaire with his left hook, jabs and occasional rights.

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Pacquiao vs. Marquez 5 possible for Cowboy Stadium in 2013

By Rob Smith: It’s being reported that the Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) vs. Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) 5th fight for 2013 may be headed to the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas rather than Las Vegas, Nevada, where it’s taken place in four of the previous bouts between the two fighters.

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