How far can Amir Khan go as a pro???

[Althugz]

Im sure its been noted already, probably by me but I hate the way Amir falls across the ring throwing 3 or 4 straight punches. Its so untidy and I see someone with a bit more class just sitting and waiting for him to do it and cleaning his clock in the process.

....With his chin waaay up in the air, I agree completely Memphis.
Thing that worries me is that he does it after EVERY knockdown..he's going to do it one day after he scores a flash knockdown and his opponent is just gonna get up and take advantage of him rushing in with his chin out.

[amat]

Im sure its been noted already, probably by me but I hate the way Amir falls across the ring throwing 3 or 4 straight punches. Its so untidy and I see someone with a bit more class just sitting and waiting for him to do it and cleaning his clock in the process.

....With his chin waaay up in the air, I agree completely Memphis.
Thing that worries me is that he does it after EVERY knockdown..he's going to do it one day after he scores a flash knockdown and his opponent is just gonna get up and take advantage of him rushing in with his chin out.

I agree on this, and think it is just one of several different bad habits he has defensively. I hate that too, surely Casamayor or Cambell are crafty enough to take advantage of that.

Khan has looked impressive, he's a bit of a phenomenon, he is very fast, very powerful but with flaws. The lightweight division is STRONG at the moment and it's a bit on a whim to take Khan over EVERYONE. I think that's a bit over the top and not very realistic. There's more to boxing then good power and good speed and I don't think Khan does the finer things to make him a sure bet right now, not to mention that he hasn't been chin checked! That's a huge thing that people are losing in this thread, he hasn't faced anyone with notable power and seemingly purposely has been matched against soft punchers.

I love fighters with energy but certainly that energy is going to work against Khan at some point. Like Memphis said, that business with him chasing his opponents straight across the ring, it's amateurish. He's an excitable guy but that has to stop. However faded you believe Casamayor to be, do you really think he would have any problem sidestepping Khan and send him back to England with a KO loss? I don't.

And it's not just that, he is very much off balance when he throws the left hand, no matter what it is. The jab is decent, but he overreaches with it and doesn't pick it back up after he throws. Also the left hook, winds up a lot on it and several times during the Kristjansen fight he was spinning on his front foot after throwing and missing.

Essentially it's all about the right hand for Khan. I'll admit that it's a tremendous right and he does do a good job of putting the left hook after the right, but that's not enough and he's just too open on the defensive end for the right hand over the low left and the left hook when he reaches with the jab. Very leaky defense but so far that hasn't been a problem for him for a few different reasons, mainly because the guys put in front of him have been overwhelmed by his power and speed.

Fact is, we just don't know enough about Khan. Right now against guys with no power and who he's leagues better then, these flaws are there but not exploited. We haven't seen anyone try to back Khan up throughout the course of an entire fight. Kristjansen was in the 4th and 5th but Khan didn't have to respect his power, so he was able to battle back. Think Nate Campbell wouldn't try to move Khan backwards the entire fight and not give him any space for the right hand? Based off his last fight, a 36 year old Nate Campbell would have no problem matching Khan's energy.

And what about the chin? We don't know yet. As Saddo has pointed out, he has yet to be matched with someone above 50% with their KO percentage. We know Khan can be hit, but no one has had the power to make those hits count. Between Casamayor, Campbell and Pacquiao there is a lot of power to go around at lightweight at the top.

I'll give you a guy who I think is much more ready for the big stage then Khan, Anthony Peterson. A guy with great speed, confidence and power but without those bad habits.

I think Khan would fall short if matched right now against those at the top. He's just got to tighten up the defense for my liking. That's not bagging on him, I just think he has some lessons to learn between now and a title shot.