By James Slater: One man who will be a very interested observer of tonight’s 140-pound title clash between Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana is Colombia’s Breidis Prescott. The 27-year-old will be so interested in the result of the Las Vegas showdown because there is a very real chance he will wind up facing the winner next year – if the winner is Amir Khan, that is.
Prescott, 23-2(19) shot to fame in September of 2008 when he iced Khan inside a minute down at lightweight, and even though he has not been able to build on that KO since, “Braidys” might get another chance next year. Golden Boy have mentioned Prescott’s name, along with a couple of others, as possible foes for Khan’s next fight. Assuming he beats Maidana tonight (and most good judges seem to feel he will do so, on points), Khan will fight in the UK around spring time, and it might just be Prescott who gets the call.
But the Colombian, who has won two in a row since suffering back-to-back points defeats, must first win his scheduled eight-rounder in January if he’s to have any chance of getting the rematch.
Set to appear on an ESPN2 card on January 14th (a card which will also feature Peter Manfredo Junior Vs. Daniel Edouard and Edwin Rodriguez Vs. Aaron Pryor Junior), Prescott will face a TBA at 140-pounds. By then tonight’s WBA title clash will be history, and Prescott will possibly be on the verge of challenging for his first world title.
A Prescott-Khan II fight would no doubt be built up into a huge event for British boxing, and Khan would be facing genuine danger in going back in with the only man to have beaten him. Some fans say the 54-second win scored by Prescott was something of a fluke, and if Khan does come through against the harder-hitting Maidana tonight, this opinion will no doubt be shared by many more people.
Khan has said constantly since the Sept. 2008 shocker that his struggling to make 135-pounds affected him and his chin, and Khan has also referred to the loss as a fight in which he made a mistake the likes of which he will never make again. But for the purposes of “tidying up” his pro record, Khan has to get revenge over Prescott. So it could be that “King Khan” goes in with two lethal bangers in a row (of course, if he does lose to Maidana tonight all this will change).
A Prescott-Khan II would absolutely sell out an arena such as Manchester’s M.E.N (the venue mentioned to stage Khan’s next fight), and Sky Sports would almost certainly put the bout on Pay-Per-View. But if the fight does happen, will it be a glorious, revenge-getting homecoming for the British superstar, or will the “Khanqueror” spoil the party once again?