By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
When England's 23-year-old, WBA junior welterweight (140 pounds) champion, Amir Khan (pictured above, at left), steps into the ring opposite New York's Paulie Malignaggi (pictured above, at right) on May 15 at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater, Khan's trainer, Freddie Roach, predicts the challenger will be in for a short, if not physically brutal evening.
"I think that Amir walks right through him. Ricky Hatton walked right through Malignaggi, and I know that Amir is better than Hatton," said the 50-year-old, four-time Trainer Of The Year, referring to Hatton's, November, 2008, 11th-round stoppage of Malignaggi, who was knocked out for the only time in his career.
"Amir's very fast, and very aggressive, and he can box when he wants to. We're going to get a guy in Malignaggi who is going to run a little bit on us, so we're going to have to make that ring a little bit smaller and control the ring," said Roach, of his answer should the fleet-footed, Malignaggi try to turn the fight into a route-going track meet.
"My guys know how to cut the ring off, and they know what ring generalship is. That's something that we work on all of the time. It's a lost art, but my guys know how to make that ring smaller," said Roach of Khan, who is coming of December's first-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Dmitriy Salita (30-1-1, 16 KOs).
"We're going to set traps for Paulie, who is not a big puncher and who is not dangerous," said Roach. "We can take a little more risks with him because he's only knocked out five people. I think that our speed and our power will overwhelm him, and that we'll definitely stop him in the later rounds."
Khan (22-1, 16 KOs) will defend his crown against the slick-boxing, 29-year-old Malignaggi (27-3, five KOs) before a crowd that Malignaggi, a Brooklyn native and resident, believes will be rooting for him against Khan.
"All of these Brits come to the U.S. to make their debuts against New Yorkers, and yes, they all have the common denominator that they have all beat us. But they were never tested like I will test Amir in his debut," said Malignaggi.
"I have a lot of respect for Amir, but he's going to get beat on May 15, because when I get in the ring, I throw down," said Malignaggi. "Madison Square Garden is Paulie Malignaggi. This is New York and it's my town. On May 15, I will have all the answers."
But Roach doesn't necessarily believe that Malignaggi will be the fan favorite, given his pure-boxing style and his tendancy not to engage in toe-to-toe battles in the center of the ring.
"I will bet you that we have more fans than Malignaggi in the crowd that night. Malignaggi doesn't draw people. Let's face it. They put it in the little Garden because he doesn't draw, and that's the only reason. Paulie never sold in the Garden. He's just not that popular a guy," said Roach, who is not concerned about controversy or the prospect of having to win a decision.
"We're going to have neutral officials, and the New York commission is a top-notch commission that knows what it's doing. The ring's the same size in Dallas, or in Las Vegas, or in Madison Square Garden," said Roach. "There's a lot of history in The Garden and I think it's a great venue for Amir's United States debut. But I still think that Amir will have a better draw than Paulie, and that the crowd will be on our side."
Like Roach, Khan believes that he is well-prepared for Malignaggi.
"I have watched tapes of Paulie and I think it is a style we can beat. We are both great fighters, both fast and tricky," said Khan. "Styles make fights, and this is a great matchup. I'm another great fighter that will beat Paulie, just like Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and others did. I'm going to keep this title on May 15, its mine."
A winner of four consecutive fights, three of them by knockout, since being stopped in the first round by Breidis Prescott in September of 2008, Khan had better prepare himself for disappointment on May 15, said Malignaggi.
"I'm a different fighter in my last couple of fights than before, because I made a change with my team and found my match with [new trainer] Sherif [Younan]. I'm not the same fighter you saw against Ricky Hatton or Juan Diaz the first time," said Malignaggi, who lost a decision to Diaz, and then, defeated him by decision.
"I don't feel like I talked my way into this fight at all. I think this is a great fight and styles make fights, so this one was made. I think I'm getting better and better, and my resume speaks volumes," said Malignaggi. "Amir has never fought a guy like me. Amir has had the red carpet treatment so far in his career, and bar none, I'm the best fighter he has ever fought. He may have a great career ahead of him, but on May 15, he will get his second loss."
Khan-Malignaggi appears to set the stage for what amounts to being a 140-pound, tournament over the next few months.
On June 26 at the Agua Caliente Casino, Rancho Mirage, in Calif., 26-year-old WBO champion, Tim Bradley (25-0, 11 KOs), of Palm Springs, Calif., will participate in a non-title, over the division weight limit match up opposite Luis Carlos Abregu (29-0, 23 KOs), of Salta, Salta, Argentina, on HBO as part of a deal worked out with the network.
Nicknamed "The Desert Storm," Bradley is coming off of December's one-sided, 12-round unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten Lamont Peterson (27-1, 13 KOs), of Washington, D.C., during which Bradley may have one virtually every round.
In the 27-year-old Abregu, Bradley is meeting a fighter who has fought mostly as a welterweight (147 pounds).
Considered the sport's top 140-pounder, Bradley made the move from Showtime to be on the same network that houses all of the other key players in the division, including Khan, 23-year-old, southpaw, IBF and WBC titlist Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KOs), of, St. Louis, Mo., and 26-year-old, Argentinian WBA interim junior welterweight king, Marcos Rene Maidana (27-1, 26 KOs).
Khan said that he is ready to make a statement against Malignaggi that will go a long way toward distinguishing him among the division's premiere athletes -- just as he did against Salita.
"Its always been my dream to fight here in the U.S. and I know there will be a lot of pressure on me not fighting in front of my U.K. fans, but I made a name over there and now I'm ready to come make a name for myself here," said Khan.
"I have a test in front of me on May 15 at Madison Square Garden, the 'Mecca of Boxing.' On May 15, Paulie's New York fans will become my fans when I beat him here. I'm very excited for my U.S. debut," said Khan. "At first, they told me it would be against Juan Manuel Marquez, but he pulled out and Malignaggi's name came up and I wanted the fight. I think all things happen for a reason, and I'll be ready for him."
Alexander recently dethroned 29-year-old, Juan Urango (22-3-1, 17 KOs) as IBF champ with an eighth-round knockout, and could be considering a bout with 32-year-old, former junior welterweight, and, welterweight titlist, Zab Judah (38-6, 26 KOs), in the summer.
In action on March 27 will be Maidana, defending his belt aginst 25-year-old Victor Cayo (24-0, 16 KOs), of the Dominican Republic.
In addtion, the Khan-Malignaggi undercard will also feature 23-year-old southpaw, 140-pound contender, "Vicious" Victor Ortiz (26-2-1, 21 KOs), against 37-year-old former world champ, Nate Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KOs).
Also, the 26-year-old Peterson can thrust himself back into the mix should he get by 28-year-old Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KOs), the former WBC lightweight (135 pounds) titlist . Valero vacated the WBC lightweight belt to rise to junior welterweight for a bout against Peterson possibly in July in Washington, D.C., according to Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum.
Lamont Peterson must first get past southpaw Damien Fuller (30-6-1, 14 KOs), on April 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
"I'm sure we're going to see how Amir does stack up against some of those other guys in the division, because after we beat Malignaggi, then I'm sure that Golden Boy [Promotions] is going to put us into a test with one of those other guys," said Roach.
"You've got Bradley, you've got Maidana, you've got some great talent there," said Roach. "If they pay us what the fight's worth, and they build the fight up, then everyone gets happy. We know that we want to fight each one of them because to be the best you've got to beat the best."
Khan and Maidana were supposed to fight for the unified, WBA crown, but Golden Boy Promotions -- which handles both fighters -- was granted an extension on the deal.
Roach, at the time, was not keen on Khan facing Maidana, who, is coming off of June's sixth-round knockout of Ortiz, as well as November's third-round stoppage of William Gonzalez.
In that bout with Ortiz, Maidana was down once in the first round and twice in the second, with Ortiz hitting the canvas once each in the first and sixth rounds.
"Risk and reward is the business, and when Victor fought Maidana for no reason whatsoever -- he could have fought anybody he wanted -- it almost ruined Victor's career. The guy [Maidana] is very dangerous, and we know that. I know that Amir can out-box him, but it's not an easy task," said Roach.
"Maidana's not somebody that we're ducking, but it's just not a big fight right now. I just want it to be a big fight someday. For now, though, nobody knows Maidana. Nobody really knows Amir in America yet either. Nobody knows either man," said Roach.
"The fight wouldn't draw 10 people right now. So that fight needs to be built up," said Roach. "You need to put them on the same undercard a couple of times and then have the winners fight each other."
Roach feels the same about Khan-Bradley, or, Khan-Alexander matchups.
"Bradley and Alexander are great champions, and they would be tough fights for us, of course. But in terms of pay per view, does any of them sell yet in America where they can generate that type of audience?" asked Roach. "No. Not even my own guy, because he hasn't fought here yet."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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