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A cracking night of action on both sides of the Atlantic gets underway in Bolton, England where local hero Amir Khan makes the second defence of his Commonwealth Lightweight Championship.
Graham Earl, from Luton, opposes Khan this Saturday. Earl himself has held British and Commonwealth titles and has even tread water into world level in his last outing, losing in five torrid rounds during a vacant WBO title bid against Aussie Michael Katsidis.
For Khan, this will be his 15th professional fight since turning pro two years ago. Frank Warren, his promoter, seems to be handling Khan well, asking certain questions of Amir as each bout progresses.
The former Olympic Silver Medallist’s biggest test came in July of this year when in a tough scrap against Scot Willie Limond, Khan survived a sixth round knockdown en route to a thrilling eighth round stoppage win to bag the Commonwealth crown.
After one defence, Khan steps into the ring for another potentially tough matchup.
Graham Earl is arguably the toughest opponent that Khan has faced in the pro ranks and has certainly faced the better opposition of the two.
At 29, Earl has now spent 10 years in the paid ranks winning the British title in July 2003 with a hard fought 12 round points win over the skilful Bobby Vanzie. Earl repeated this win a year later. One year in, on July 2005, Earl added the Commonwealth crown with a ninth round stoppage win over Kevin Bennett.
This Saturday night, Khan could well be in for his toughest outing. One criticiscm I have of Khan is that he still carries his hands a little low. However, pitched against the power and speed he has at the moment, he has more than enough going for him.
I think to beat Khan, you have to hurt him. Earl, for all his toughness, I don’t think has the genuine knockout power with less than half of his victories coming by the short route.
Having said that, Limond hurt Khan in July and the Scot wasn’t considered a big hitter. The other big factor is how much the brutal fifth round loss to Michael Katsidis took out of Earl.
I think Saturday’s bout will be an entertaining one and I also believe that Khan may well be tagged again.
That being said, I’m predicting that Khan’s youth and power will prevail by a late rounds stoppage.
