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On Saturday, July 18, Amir Khan fulfilled a promise he made to himself and the nation when he beat Andreas Kotelnik over 12 rounds to become WBA Light Welterweight Champion. The journey to get there was not easy; by the same token it was not that hard either.
With his record now standing at 21-1 (15), Khan has some notable scalps on his record as Kotelnik joins the list along with Marco Antonio Barrera, Oisin Fagan, and Michael Gomez. The latter two are not exactly world class, but both hard veterans of the ring, they know their crafts very well and are good on a domestic and inter-continental level.
Barrera was well past his best when they fought in March of this year and the fight was stopped, quite controversially, after Barrera was cut in the first, which effectively blinded him in one eye.
The controversy happened when the doctor stopped it in the fifth and it went to the scorecards. Had he stopped it in any point through rounds 1-4, then it would have been deemed a No-Contest. Khan looked to be in control of this fight, but if the Barrera is saying he couldn’t see, then surely it’s an unfair contest.
Andreas Kotelnik was a tough, well-schooled, technical and precise counter puncher. Khan did not give him the opportunity to get his own punches off though and did a great job of covering up or using his nifty movement to skip out of the way, he did this impressively for the full 12 rounds, even when Kotelnik pushed him in the 11th and 12th rounds as he knew he had to secure the knockout.
Khan has always had his doubters and fair share of critics, who were rather pleased with themselves after a young undefeated Colombian came along by the name of Breidis Prescott, and knocked Khan out in 54 seconds of the first round at the MEN Arena in September, 2008.
After that defeat and the change of trainer and camp, Khan says it was the best thing that could have happened to him as a boxer, and you have to agree as a day before Khan took the world title belt off Kotelnik, Prescott suffered his first loss to Miguel Vazquez.
When he knocked out Khan, more attention was paid to Khan’s downfall than to Prescott’s own achievement. Khan’s management team did a good job getting Khan back on his feet and in a position to fight for a world title, although he did come up a weight to do it.
Khan had fought at lightweight his entire career and stepped up to junior welterweight to face Kotelnik, and so yes, Khan has proved those doubters and harsh critics wrong. He has won the world title that he promised us all, now though he is in a different division, with different fighters, and its all the more difficult to clever match-make when you are the guy who everyone wants to fight and who everyone wants to beat.
Khan’s move across the pond to the Wild Card Gym has obviously done him the world of good, not only defensively but on the offence as well. Khan used to get a lot of stoppages on his record from just an accumulation of punches to the opponent’s head, they could do nothing but cover up. With Gomez and Kotelnik, he was planting his feet, gaining power, and creating different angles!
Khan has his mandatory fight already laid out by the WBA against Dmitry Salita, an undefeated Ukrainian based in New York with a record of 31-0-1 (16). Salita is a sharp accurate puncher with good movement and speed.
The fight looks to take place sometime in October or November, and this could be eventful. Although Salita has not had stern tests at the junior welterweight division, he has come up against some opponents who have given him problems in the past, but he has managed to overcome them. However, he has never fought anyone like Khan.
As we all know, Khan has to be careful defensively as he has not got a great chin, but showed good defence in his fights under Freddie Roach, so one must assume that he has done a good job, and will continue to do so. Kotelnik could not tag Khan, and we saw him get agitated and frustrated as the fight went into the later rounds.
Salita does have a good knowledge and understanding of the sweet science and could prove a tricky opponent but the speed of Khan is what baffles all who come before him, his sticking and moving, in and out, hitting and not being hit, and he has become very adept at it.
Also, Salita does not have the power to cause the upset and even if he caught Khan, there is little chance Amir would go down. Therefore, Khan wins by unanimous decision.
Another likely opponent for Khan is WBA Interim Champion and Argentine danger man Marcos Rene Maidana, 27-1-0 (25), who’s only loss was incidentally to Kotelnik!
Maidana captured the WBA interim title from Victor Ortiz a few weeks back in a blistering scrap, after Ortiz went into the fight with an eight fight knockout streak, and was being touted as the next “Golden Boy”.
Both Ortiz and Maidana went down in the first round, before Ortiz knocked Maidana to the canvas twice in the second round. Ortiz was then cut in the fifth round and went down in the sixth. When Ortiz rose from the canvas he was taken to the ringside doctor who stopped the fight. Ortiz did not complain, in fact he looked a little relieved.
When Khan gets through Salita, he will have a hungry fighter staring at him in the form of Maidana, a fighter who has been tested under fire, a fighter who does not give up, a fighter with heavy hands and solid boxing foundations.
Having already upset one prospect along the way, Maidana will be full of confidence, especially as he knows Khan has a dodgy chin. Freddie and the team have a hard night’s work ahead of them in Salita alone, which they will have to out-box and out-work, but that is feasible and very much possible.
There is no way Maidana will be out-hustled by Khan and will the Argentine’s sheer aggressiveness overcome Amir? Or will Khan’s new found defence frustrate Maidana, thus creating openings to exploit as Maidana has never fought a fighter like Khan either?
Whatever happens, it will surely be considered as the next test for Khan. But, becoming world champ should mean that the tests have stopped and now it’s simply a matter of can he stay at this level?
We will all find out very soon!
