(From left to right, Amir Khan and Rashid Drilzane) 10.12.06 – By Bob Webb: Amazingly to fans of Amir Khan, who are predominantly British, there is a heap of disdain coming from other quarters outside the British Isles. There has recently been some speculation on ESB, indeed, that he even has a soft chin, the main argument for which appears to be that his opponents up to now and including last night’s opponent, Frenchman Rashid Drilzane (10 – 3, no KOs), have very poor KO records and that Khan’s management and promotional team are avoiding heavy hitters in order to protect his chin.
There has even been the suggestion that Khan has been rocked several times to add to that impression. Has that question been answered by Khan’s latest outing, a ten round fight for his first time against Drilzane for the hyped and fairly meaningless IBF Intercontinental title at Light-Welterweight?
Firstly, let me repeat what I’ve said before that I don’t think that Khan’s chin is suspect, certainly not simply on the basis of his level of opponent so far. What I have thought suspect though is his lack of defence when coming forward and throwing shots and on the retreat when his chin is in the air. His is not a serious lack of defence but he does tend to leave his head up in an amateur fashion when throwing fast combinations and one day he will walk into a harder counter than he was exposed to last night. Also, backing away, he leaves his chin exposed and added to that he does leave his left dangling at waist level where it’s ineffective from the point of view of throwing hard, fast and crisp jabs of which he’s more than capable, or of defending his chin against right hand counters or even right hand leads.
What’s positive therefore to draw from this his tenth pro fight? Is he progressing or showing too many obvious signs of a protected and flashy fighter of limited ability waiting to be exposed when the going will be a lot tougher? Maybe a little of both if that’s not a total contradiction.
Last night, in what was to have been the undercard to the World title defence by Scott Harrison against London’s Nicky Cook, Khan went straight into not just his first 8 round fight but his first 10 rounder and that for the above mentioned IBF IC title. But not at Lightweight, his very natural weight, but at Light-Welter and against an opponent who was estimated to have probably come into the ring at nearer 11 stone than 10 stone 2 lbs, the weight at which Khan normally walks around. For these reasons alone, the fight was a big step up. According to Khan post-fight, he’d never even sparred for 10 rounds prior to the big one.
Khan showed remarkable maturity from the opening bell by obviously pacing himself, itself a good sign. In his previous fights he’s been all footwork and slashing punching from the off. Here he was content to feel his way with his fast jab and not expose himself to too many counters. The fight was to an extent predictable. Khan’s skills were far above those of his opponents but it was clear that when he let his left guard down he was catching several hurtful right-hand shots to the head from the determined Marseille resident all through the fight, not only on the counter but as a lead punch! That’s worrying.
The good news is that not one of the punches troubled him even though they were cleanly taken, in fact they usually were met with hard and fast combinations from Khan in reply, although it was obvious also that none of Khan’s shots ever looked like worrying the dogged and tough Frenchman either. If reports about Drilzane’s fight weight are correct then that’s not in itself any cause for alarm but it was in stark contrast to Khan’s ability so far to blow away most Lightweights that he’s encountered. There is, I gather, the possibility or probability that Khan will not remain at Light-Welter and, for the time being, that would be sensible based on last night’s showing. Typically though, for a man with no KOs on his record, the man from Marseille was durable. He has to be simply to have a chance of victory with no KO punch.
Other than that, Amir Khan came through unscathed to win with three scores of 99-91, a clear enough victory, proving his stamina over the distance, but I still retain concerns about his defence and lack of punch at this higher weight. He showed great determination when tagged and a sound enough chin. Maybe the theories abounding regarding the latter will in time come to be proven but right now he marches onwards.
I have just read that he’s to give up the belt he’s just won and campaign at Lightweight, in fact, which answers one of my concerns.