King Khan Bests Marcos Maidana In 2010′s Fight of the Year
Added on Dec 14, 2010 by Brian Blake in
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In the main event of HBO’s World Championship Boxing 2010 season finale Amir “King” Khan defeated hard hitting Argentine Marcos Rene Maidana in what will most likely be voted as the 2010 fight of the year. Heading in to the bout the questions on the mind’s of boxing fans around the world was whether or not Khan’s chin would be able to withstand the heavy hands of Maidana.
Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) started the fight off in exciting fashion as he floored Maidana late in the opening stanza with a thudding body shot. Fortunately for Maidana it was just moments before the bell sounded allowing him a minute to get himself back in order.
Khan was able to control the action for the most part in the early rounds with his superior hand and foot speed, but that’s not to say that he was exempt from feeling the power that Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs) is known for. The aggressive Maidana got a bit too aggressive in the fifth frame as he came within inches of catching Khan with an elbow while hall of fame ref Joe Cortez attempted to seperate the two combatants resulting in Maidana being penalized a point.
As the rounds progressed Maidana began to find his range and was able to score at a higher frequency than in the earlier stanzas.
The tenth round gave critics an emphatic answer as to whether or not Khan could handle Maidana’s power as Maidana tagged Khan with dozens of hellacious shots that had the champion in serious trouble and on shaky legs for most of the round. Khan managed to survive the round and make it to the final bell even finishing the fight with an exchange that had the Las Vegas crowd on their feet.
While Maidana’s late surge made for an enthralling bout, it wasn’t enough to secure the win according to the ringside judges who all scored the bout in favor of Khan by a narrow margin. Judges Jerry Roth and C.J. Ross both turned in scores of 114-111 while Glenn Trowbridge had it a tad closer at 113-112 helping Khan retain his WBA junior welterweight belt in his third defense.
Khan’s performance silenced critics who questioned his chin following his loss to Prescott, but at the same time Khan proved to be an easy target for Maidana who isn’t known for his speed and telegraphs the majority of his shots. Khan is improving with each outing under the tutelage of Freddie Roach but clearly needs to tighten things up on the defensive side of his game.
It’s too early to say who Khan would fight next, but a rematch with Maidana isn’t out of the question and another possibility that was mentioned was a chance for Khan to exact revenge on Bredis Prescott who handed Khan his only loss back in 2008 when he shocked the boxing world with his 54 second blowout over the current champ.
For now, he can go back to the United Kingdom to let his bumps and bruises heal while he takes comfort in knowing that no one, at least in the immediate future, will be questioning his ability to take a punch.
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