Khan-Malignaggi in the works

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The junior welterweight division is hot. It's loaded with a variety of interesting, exciting and marketable fighters and matchups. At the top there's titleholder Timothy Bradley, who looked awesome defending his title last week in dismantling Lamont Peterson, another quality young contender who should be back in the hunt before too long.
There's also young American titleholder Devon Alexander, who has skills, speed, a bright smile and a brighter future. From England, you have fast and powerful titleholder Amir Khan, a tremendous talent who has looked very good in recent fights, including a 76-second destruction of Dmitriy Salita in his first defense on Dec. 5. Khan is the linchpin of the division because he brings the most money, by far, because of his big following in England.
There is also slick former titleholder Paulie Malignaggi, who is already back in the gym doing some light training after a decisive decision win against Juan Diaz in their Dec. 12 rematch.
Add in titleholder Juan Urango, big puncher Marcos Maidana, former titlist Kendall Holt, prospect Victor Ortiz and the old guard of Ricky Hatton (the former champ with perhaps a big fight or two left), Nate Campbell and lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez, who likely will fight at junior welterweight against Hatton in the spring, and you have a stacked division that should produce several good fights over the next couple of years.
One of the biggest fights at 140 pounds (or, in defense to Khan, 10 stone), would be Khan against Malignaggi next year at New York's Madison Square Garden. Khan has said repeatedly that he intends to fight in the United States in 2010 and Malignaggi promoter Lou DiBella hopes to make the match.
"We want that fight. Paulie wants a big fight," DiBella told me this week. "It would be an unbelievable event for Kahn's American debut. It's perfectly conceived of because of the personalities, styles and geography. Khan wants to fight here. Paulie is a New Yorker and is as hot as he's been. I have no doubt the fight does 15,000 people at the Garden. They both can fight and they both can talk and promote."
DiBella said the fight has come up in his conversations with HBO, which hopes to put Khan on for the second time on March 6 from England as part of a split-site doubleheader with Alexander defending his belt from a venue in the U.S.
"It is not lost on HBO how big Khan coming to America and fighting Paulie in New York would be," DiBella said.
He should know about such matters. After all, it was DiBella, when he used to run HBO's boxing franchise, who engineered a similar scenario in 1997. That's when he signed England's Naseem Hamed to an HBO contract and brought him to Madison Square Garden to defend his featherweight title against New Yorker Kevin Kelley, who talks almost as much and as fast as Malignaggi. Hamed-Kelley was a great promotion and turned out to be one of the best fights of the 1990s. Hamed won via fourth-round knockout and launched himself to stardom in the United States.
"A Khan fight with Paulie is the same type of situation. You have a young British star coming here to challenge the more established American and to see if he can create star power in this country in one night," DiBella said. "After a fight between Khan and Paulie, one of those guys comes out of the fight a huge star. It's a terrific matchup. There will be the threat of Khan's power and of Paulie's speed, which I think a bit exceeds Khan's. Freddie Roach [Khan trainer] says Khan will fight him but he knows it ain't an easy fight.
"I love the Khan fight for Paulie. It reminds me so much of the set up with Hamed and Kelley, but Paulie is fresher than Kelley was. It has the making of a really big event if we can put it together."
I couldn't agree more. And the best part? It's only one possibility in a hot division that boasts so many exciting possible fights.

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Khan-Malignaggi has nice ring to it in loaded 140 division - ESPN

A lot of people on this site including myself were saying that Khan's next fight which would be his American debut would be against someone that's decent but a feather fisted puncher. Lo and behold his next possible opponent.

:-\Can't wait.......

it's interesting to see if majority of uk boxing fans will root for amir khan or instead root for paulie

I still believe Khan should fight Katsidis!

Fukk that. Con needs to fight Maidana. Who is the interim title holder to his belt. Malignaggi might be a bigger name but he can't fukking punch. And non-punchers is all Con has been facing since he was almost decapitated by Prescott. How can he be new and improved if he's still being protected?

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Fukk that. Con needs to fight Maidana. Who is the interim title holder to his belt. Malignaggi might be a bigger name but he can't fukking punch. And non-punchers is all Con has been facing since he was almost decapitated by Prescott. How can he be new and improved if he's still being protected?

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I think they want to go progressively. First, a big name to foster his name in the US and to see how he reacts against a quick and skilled boxers to give him more experience. Then they will probably go against an higher banger to test his limits a bit further. Actually, I think that this Paulie fight, if it happens, is a quite damn smart move from their side.

I don't know about you guys, but I think Khan will handle Malignaggi. Khan by wide UD.

Malignaggi stops him in 7. :cool:

Yikes, stylistic nightmare, two guys who do there best work moving, who will take the lead? Probably Khan. He probably wins but it will be a mess.

Should be a good fight, sensible choice for the Khan camp, Paulie is coming off two very good showings against Juan Diaz.

I don't know why he gets no respect because Paulie can't punch, I mean can still box a bit after all.

All fighters struggle with certain styles, are we going to criticise Froch's choice of opponents in future every time he fights someone who isn't quick, elusive and slippery?

If Khan can outbox Malignaggi then he's proven himself capable of challenging for serious honours at 140 lbs.

In all seriousness, I agree with Bilbo. It is a decent matchup and would be a proper step up for Khan. I don't think Khan beat Barrera (for reasons I have reiterated far too many times), so this will be Khans first opportunity to try and beat a name opponent for me. Malignaggi doesn't have much pop, but he's good enough to win rounds against most fighters. I would give him a good chance of winning.

i would pick malignaggi to ko khan he might not be a big puncher but willy limond wasnt a big puncher and he almost kod khan

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Originally Posted by miles

In all seriousness, I agree with Bilbo. It is a decent matchup and would be a proper step up for Khan. I don't think Khan beat Barrera (for reasons I have reiterated far too many times), so this will be Khans first opportunity to try and beat a name opponent for me. Malignaggi doesn't have much pop, but he's good enough to win rounds against most fighters. I would give him a good chance of winning.

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Why when agreeing with me does everyone feel the need to add the preface that they are actually not joking :confused:

It would be funny if Paulie ko'ed Khan ;D

As I stated before, I think that Paulie's a good test for Khan, perhaps not on the knocking power but for the all around boxing abilities. If he can pull out this one, he will have shown to everybody that his boxing skills aren,t a fluke at all and are to be taken very seriously. It will also give him an excellent window through the US. Pretty good match up and that will answer a few questions though some more remain to be unfold.

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

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Originally Posted by miles

In all seriousness, I agree with Bilbo. It is a decent matchup and would be a proper step up for Khan. I don't think Khan beat Barrera (for reasons I have reiterated far too many times), so this will be Khans first opportunity to try and beat a name opponent for me. Malignaggi doesn't have much pop, but he's good enough to win rounds against most fighters. I would give him a good chance of winning.

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Why when agreeing with me does everyone feel the need to add the preface that they are actually not joking :confused:

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Haha, I didn't mean it like that. I was just making a contrast with my own flippant first post in this thread. It was no slur on you, Baggins. Take it easy. ;D

Paulie is a very good test for Khan, but I too think Khan will win by a wide UD, possibly a TKO but there's no way Khan is knocking Paulie out, or even knocking him down for that matter. I'd still rather see Khan-Maidana though.. which I assumed would be Khan's next fight, wasn't khan told he had to fight Maidana within 90 days of the Salita fight? or maybe I mis-heard.

Not the worst choice but again he is kept away with anyone with any power, shame he's not fighting Judah.

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Originally Posted by skel1983

Not the worst choice but again he is kept away with anyone with any power, shame he's not fighting Judah.

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Judah would kill him. They want to try and extend Khan as far as the wallet will allow. It won't get all that far now though. 15 quid a shot to watch him? Surely the British people aren't that loopy?

With no secondary meanings or disparaging undertones whatsoever, I am also leaning towards agreeing with Bilbo, although Paulie isn't a puncher he's still a significant boxing challenge and will provide Khan with a bigger challenge than he's had so far. Plenty of time for Khan to take on the rest of the comers in the division, and make the bigger unification fights, (which he may well lose), but for now let Khan just grow into his title and face some decent but not overly dangerous opponents.

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by skel1983

Not the worst choice but again he is kept away with anyone with any power, shame he's not fighting Judah.

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Judah would kill him. They want to try and extend Khan as far as the wallet will allow. It won't get all that far now though. 15 quid a shot to watch him? Surely the British people aren't that loopy?

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Im not to sure Judah would kill Khan Miles, I mean who has Judah beat who is anywhere near world class in the last 4/5 years? If you look at his record the last name Judah beat was Spinks in Feb 05 thats 5 years ago, Yes his level of opposistion is very good but still I think aslong as Khan can survive the first 5/6 rounds hed easily beat Judah at this stage, and it's alot more appealing fight imo, fighting another feather fisted fighter is just fueling the fire even more for the haters.

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

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Originally Posted by miles

In all seriousness, I agree with Bilbo. It is a decent matchup and would be a proper step up for Khan. I don't think Khan beat Barrera (for reasons I have reiterated far too many times), so this will be Khans first opportunity to try and beat a name opponent for me. Malignaggi doesn't have much pop, but he's good enough to win rounds against most fighters. I would give him a good chance of winning.

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Why when agreeing with me does everyone feel the need to add the preface that they are actually not joking :confused:

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Haha, I think I might have started that. Nevertheless I'll claim it.

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Originally Posted by skel1983

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by skel1983

Not the worst choice but again he is kept away with anyone with any power, shame he's not fighting Judah.

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Judah would kill him. They want to try and extend Khan as far as the wallet will allow. It won't get all that far now though. 15 quid a shot to watch him? Surely the British people aren't that loopy?

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Im not to sure Judah would kill Khan Miles, I mean who has Judah beat who is anywhere near world class in the last 4/5 years? If you look at his record the last name Judah beat was Spinks in Feb 05 thats 5 years ago, Yes his level of opposistion is very good but still I think aslong as Khan can survive the first 5/6 rounds hed easily beat Judah at this stage, and it's alot more appealing fight imo, fighting another feather fisted fighter is just fueling the fire even more for the haters.

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I think I was being optimistic in saying Judah would kill Khan. Judah has the speed, and quite possibly the power to give Khan fits. Might be a better fight than Malignaggi actually. I am not sold on Khan and think there are a lot of better fighters out there than him.

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Originally Posted by Nameless

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Fukk that. Con needs to fight Maidana. Who is the interim title holder to his belt. Malignaggi might be a bigger name but he can't fukking punch. And non-punchers is all Con has been facing since he was almost decapitated by Prescott. How can he be new and improved if he's still being protected?

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I think they want to go progressively. First, a big name to foster his name in the US and to see how he reacts against a quick and skilled boxers to give him more experience. Then they will probably go against an higher banger to test his limits a bit further. Actually, I think that this Paulie fight, if it happens, is a quite damn smart move from their side.

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my problem with this is if Khan is not ready to fight who he is supposed to, don't be a champ. As far as I am concerned once you have that belt there is no more well lets build him into the champ we just made him.

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Originally Posted by markb018

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Originally Posted by Nameless

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Fukk that. Con needs to fight Maidana. Who is the interim title holder to his belt. Malignaggi might be a bigger name but he can't fukking punch. And non-punchers is all Con has been facing since he was almost decapitated by Prescott. How can he be new and improved if he's still being protected?

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I think they want to go progressively. First, a big name to foster his name in the US and to see how he reacts against a quick and skilled boxers to give him more experience. Then they will probably go against an higher banger to test his limits a bit further. Actually, I think that this Paulie fight, if it happens, is a quite damn smart move from their side.

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my problem with this is if Khan is not ready to fight who he is supposed to, don't be a champ. As far as I am concerned once you have that belt there is no more well lets build him into the champ we just made him.

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Totally agree mate he is ranked number 2 he should be fighting the best and as you probably know im not a huge Khan fan but I wouldnt be scared to put him in with anyone at 140, he has a chance against all of them.

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

Should be a good fight, sensible choice for the Khan camp, Paulie is coming off two very good showings against Juan Diaz.

I don't know why he gets no respect because Paulie can't punch, I mean can still box a bit after all.

All fighters struggle with certain styles, are we going to criticise Froch's choice of opponents in future every time he fights someone who isn't quick, elusive and slippery?

If Khan can outbox Malignaggi then he's proven himself capable of challenging for serious honours at 140 lbs.

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I agree. Malignaggi is a step up for Khan and a logical choice of an opponent given Khan's progression in his last few fights. He'll beat him though, I just don't see anything in Malignaggi which would allow him to beat Khan. He's slick, but Khan is a fast, accurate puncher with a massively improved defensive game since signing on with Roach.

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Not the worst choice but again he is kept away with anyone with any power

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completely agree Skel. He can't avoid the punchers forever

uk fans loves it if khan will face one of these punchers, maidana, torres, bailey or ortiz.

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Originally Posted by zbolt

uk fans loves it if khan will face one of these punchers, maidana, torres, bailey or ortiz.

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Those two are out of the question because neither will be fighting at 140 again. I think he'd fight a disciplined fight against Maidana for a points victory & Ortiz has already been stopped by Khan in the amateurs. I do think if Ortiz can work his way back up & both had world titles, a Khan/Ortiz matchup in about a year to 18 months would be a super-fight

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Originally Posted by markb018

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Originally Posted by Nameless

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Fukk that. Con needs to fight Maidana. Who is the interim title holder to his belt. Malignaggi might be a bigger name but he can't fukking punch. And non-punchers is all Con has been facing since he was almost decapitated by Prescott. How can he be new and improved if he's still being protected?

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I think they want to go progressively. First, a big name to foster his name in the US and to see how he reacts against a quick and skilled boxers to give him more experience. Then they will probably go against an higher banger to test his limits a bit further. Actually, I think that this Paulie fight, if it happens, is a quite damn smart move from their side.

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my problem with this is if Khan is not ready to fight who he is supposed to, don't be a champ. As far as I am concerned once you have that belt there is no more well lets build him into the champ we just made him.

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Malinaggi is a champion and has skills. Why couldn't start the crusade with him? Khan is young, going progressively through a good selection of opponents is no problems for me as long as he continues afterward to fight the bests.

Paulie has no power at all so i'm not surprised this is the fight they want.

Besides that though, i do think Paulie is a good step up in class for Khan as Paulie has very good boxing skills.

If it happens, i'm looking forward to it.

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Originally Posted by JazMerkin

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Originally Posted by zbolt

uk fans loves it if khan will face one of these punchers, maidana, torres, bailey or ortiz.

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Those two are out of the question because neither will be fighting at 140 again. I think he'd fight a disciplined fight against Maidana for a points victory & Ortiz has already been stopped by Khan in the amateurs. I do think if Ortiz can work his way back up & both had world titles, a Khan/Ortiz matchup in about a year to 18 months would be a super-fight

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aside from maidana, who are the punchers at 140 many fans loves khan to fight? presscott again?

Well to be fair, if by this time next year Khan hasn't fought or is planning to fight a dangerous Jr. Welterweight puncher, we can really lay it into him. Let's see what he does after this fight which I believe he should win with ease.

Question is;

Which is weaker.

Malignaggis punch or Amir Khans chin

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Originally Posted by JazMerkin

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Originally Posted by zbolt

uk fans loves it if khan will face one of these punchers, maidana, torres, bailey or ortiz.

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Those two are out of the question because neither will be fighting at 140 again. I think he'd fight a disciplined fight against Maidana for a points victory & Ortiz has already been stopped by Khan in the amateurs. I do think if Ortiz can work his way back up & both had world titles, a Khan/Ortiz matchup in about a year to 18 months would be a super-fight

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ortiz wasnt really stopped by khan... well officially maybe in a way

the fight was stopped due to the points gap passing a certain limit (usually 20 pts, sometimes 15 i think) its a bit misleading to call it a stoppage i think

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Originally Posted by markb018

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Originally Posted by Nameless

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Fukk that. Con needs to fight Maidana. Who is the interim title holder to his belt. Malignaggi might be a bigger name but he can't fukking punch. And non-punchers is all Con has been facing since he was almost decapitated by Prescott. How can he be new and improved if he's still being protected?

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I think they want to go progressively. First, a big name to foster his name in the US and to see how he reacts against a quick and skilled boxers to give him more experience. Then they will probably go against an higher banger to test his limits a bit further. Actually, I think that this Paulie fight, if it happens, is a quite damn smart move from their side.

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my problem with this is if Khan is not ready to fight who he is supposed to, don't be a champ. As far as I am concerned once you have that belt there is no more well lets build him into the champ we just made him.

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First off, Amir isn't the champ, he's a belt holder, secondly he's only had the title for five minutes give him a chance! He's just got his mandatory out of the way against that organisation's mandatory number one contender, meaning he had to take that fight, now he wants to fight Paulie Malignaggi, a former world champ and whose only losses have come against Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, both of whom peaked at around the number 5 spot in the Ring's p4p rankings.

Thirdly, this is the junior welterweight division, who in this division is better than Malignaggi?

Bradley, I guess you could regard him as the champion at the weight, certainly he's number 1 right now. After that it's pretty much wide open with Paulie not being behind anybody else.

He's a former world champ, a tough experienced fighter, still in his prime and he's fighting in his natural weight class.

Just because he's not a banger doesn't mean he's not a challenge. He's a great matchup for Khan, a HBO regular, a marquee name and one of the best known fighters in that weight class.

As much as people want to bash Khan they give him a lot of credit by complaining that he isn't fighting any punchers. Isn't that insinuating that in order to beat Khan you'd have to be a big puncher with hopes of eventually catching him? You give Khan credit by complaining each time he doesn't fight a puncher. Malignaggi is a major step up in class and doesn't need power to beat opponents. Malignaggi would be making Khan move all night more then likely and not give him a chance to sit down and throw his blistering combinations, he also has a jab which can offset things. If I remember it was a counter jab that started the issues for Khan against Prescott before he was knocked down with a left hook. Paulie has enough power to keep Khan from bullrushing in but he won't knock him out. It is a good fight. Either man can come out on top in this one it's not set in stone either way.

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Originally Posted by GAME

Question is;

Which is weaker.

Malignaggis punch or Amir Khans chin

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Going off the evidence, I would definately say Paulie's punch. The evidence being at a ratio of 22:4 in favor of Paulie.. 22 being the number of times Paulie has failed to knock someone out, and 4 being the number of times Khan has been dropped.

Ok I really don't know why I went all technical on that one..

I'm kinda sick and tired of people not regarding Paulie as a good challenge for anyone.. so what if he has shit power? the other skillsets he has will prove a tough fight for anyone on their day. He is very quick, very elusive and super fucking tough.. Cotto and Hatton both dropped their biggests shots on him and they couldn't knock him out. The dude is a world level fighter, regardless of his lack of power.

PS: 500th post! woo!

Took me long enough. :cool:

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Originally Posted by JoeyUK

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Originally Posted by GAME

Question is;

Which is weaker.

Malignaggis punch or Amir Khans chin

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Going off the evidence, I would definately say Paulie's punch. The evidence being at a ratio of 22:4 in favor of Paulie.. 22 being the number of times Paulie has failed to knock someone out, and 4 being the number of times Khan has been dropped.

Ok I really don't know why I went all technical on that one..

I'm kinda sick and tired of people not regarding Paulie as a good challenge for anyone.. so what if he has shit power? the other skillsets he has will prove a tough fight for anyone on their day. He is very quick, very elusive and super fucking tough.. Cotto and Hatton both dropped their biggests shots on him and they couldn't knock him out. The dude is a world level fighter, regardless of his lack of power.

PS: 500th post! woo!

Took me long enough. :cool:

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i dont think his power is THAT bad, he wobbled juan diaz last week, he doesnt have the power to put people away for sure but it isnt like a little tickle like a lot of people make out, he has enough to make khan think a little at least i think

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

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Originally Posted by markb018

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Originally Posted by Nameless

I think they want to go progressively. First, a big name to foster his name in the US and to see how he reacts against a quick and skilled boxers to give him more experience. Then they will probably go against an higher banger to test his limits a bit further. Actually, I think that this Paulie fight, if it happens, is a quite damn smart move from their side.

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my problem with this is if Khan is not ready to fight who he is supposed to, don't be a champ. As far as I am concerned once you have that belt there is no more well lets build him into the champ we just made him.

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First off, Amir isn't the champ, he's a belt holder, secondly he's only had the title for five minutes give him a chance! He's just got his mandatory out of the way against that organisation's mandatory number one contender, meaning he had to take that fight, now he wants to fight Paulie Malignaggi, a former world champ and whose only losses have come against Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, both of whom peaked at around the number 5 spot in the Ring's p4p rankings.

Thirdly, this is the junior welterweight division, who in this division is better than Malignaggi?

Bradley, I guess you could regard him as the champion at the weight, certainly he's number 1 right now. After that it's pretty much wide open with Paulie not being behind anybody else.

He's a former world champ, a tough experienced fighter, still in his prime and he's fighting in his natural weight class.

Just because he's not a banger doesn't mean he's not a challenge. He's a great matchup for Khan, a HBO regular, a marquee name and one of the best known fighters in that weight class.

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Maybe I am mistaken, but I have read Maidana is the mandatory.

All in all I don't really care to be honest, what it boils down to is I want Khan to be knocked out and Maidana is a lot more capable than Paulie