Amir Khan retains WBA crown
British-born Pakistani retains WBA light welterweight title in unanimous decision over Marcos Maidana of Argentina.
LAS VEGAS:
Amir Khan used a series of combinations to the head and powerful body shots to grind out a 12-round unanimous decision over Marcos Maidana in their WBA title fight on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Khan survived the toughest test of his boxing career to successfully defend his 140-pound title.
“I was hit by his best shots and I’m still there,” said Khan. “I know I made mistakes, but I worked hard and came back stronger than ever. He’s a strong fighter, and he hits hard. My chin was tested. I’m not taking anything away from him. He’s a great champion. I proved today I’ve got a chin.”
Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) started quickly, knocking Maidana down late in the opening round but it proved to be the lone knockdown of the fight at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. The relentless Maidana (29-2) regrouped and by the 10th round he bloodied and buckled Khan’s knees, almost sending the British champion to the canvas. Khan responded with a flurry of punches in the 11th and 12th rounds to take the fight on all three judges’ scorecards.
Maidana was not happy with the judges’ scores, saying he did enough to recover from the knockout and score points in the later rounds to earn the title.
“I thought I won it,” said the Argentine fighter. “I did enough in the final rounds but they gave him the decision.”
Maidana, who has a reputation as a dangerous and sometimes dirty fighter, had one point deducted by referee Joe Cortez in the fifth round after he tried to elbow Khan during a break in the action. The elbow missed and hit Cortez in the chest.
The 27-year-old Maidana made Khan work every round for the victory as the two brawled in the centre of the ring with very few clinches or backpeddling from either fighter.
Khan suffered his only loss in 2008 — a shocking defeat as he was knocked out by Colombia’s Breidis Prescott. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, said he chose to fight Maidana because he wanted to show he was prepared to go up against the toughest in his weight class.
“I made a mistake in my past now I am a different fighter thanks to [trainer] Freddie Roach.”
Khan was fighting for just the second time in the US. He stopped Paulie Malignaggi in the 11th round of a one-sided fight last May in New York. Both Khan and Maidana fought Andreas Kotelnik in 2009. Maidana, who has 23 KOs in the first three rounds, had won four consecutive fights since dropping a split decision to Kotelnik in February. Just five months later, Khan beat Kotelnik in 12 rounds for the WBA title.
Former champion Naseem Hamed
“He boxed brilliantly as it was a very hard fight. He must have a heart as big as a bucket of gold. To get past that 10th round to the 12th, I don’t know how he did it.”
Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach
“It was his ultimate test so far. He fought the toughest guy out there. It was one of the greatest fights and he showed a lot of heart and a good chin.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2010.
Amir Khan used a series of combinations to the head and powerful body shots to grind out a 12-round unanimous decision over Marcos Maidana in their WBA title fight on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Khan survived the toughest test of his boxing career to successfully defend his 140-pound title.
“I was hit by his best shots and I’m still there,” said Khan. “I know I made mistakes, but I worked hard and came back stronger than ever. He’s a strong fighter, and he hits hard. My chin was tested. I’m not taking anything away from him. He’s a great champion. I proved today I’ve got a chin.”
Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) started quickly, knocking Maidana down late in the opening round but it proved to be the lone knockdown of the fight at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. The relentless Maidana (29-2) regrouped and by the 10th round he bloodied and buckled Khan’s knees, almost sending the British champion to the canvas. Khan responded with a flurry of punches in the 11th and 12th rounds to take the fight on all three judges’ scorecards.
Maidana was not happy with the judges’ scores, saying he did enough to recover from the knockout and score points in the later rounds to earn the title.
“I thought I won it,” said the Argentine fighter. “I did enough in the final rounds but they gave him the decision.”
Maidana, who has a reputation as a dangerous and sometimes dirty fighter, had one point deducted by referee Joe Cortez in the fifth round after he tried to elbow Khan during a break in the action. The elbow missed and hit Cortez in the chest.
The 27-year-old Maidana made Khan work every round for the victory as the two brawled in the centre of the ring with very few clinches or backpeddling from either fighter.
Khan suffered his only loss in 2008 — a shocking defeat as he was knocked out by Colombia’s Breidis Prescott. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, said he chose to fight Maidana because he wanted to show he was prepared to go up against the toughest in his weight class.
“I made a mistake in my past now I am a different fighter thanks to [trainer] Freddie Roach.”
Khan was fighting for just the second time in the US. He stopped Paulie Malignaggi in the 11th round of a one-sided fight last May in New York. Both Khan and Maidana fought Andreas Kotelnik in 2009. Maidana, who has 23 KOs in the first three rounds, had won four consecutive fights since dropping a split decision to Kotelnik in February. Just five months later, Khan beat Kotelnik in 12 rounds for the WBA title.
Former champion Naseem Hamed
“He boxed brilliantly as it was a very hard fight. He must have a heart as big as a bucket of gold. To get past that 10th round to the 12th, I don’t know how he did it.”
Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach
“It was his ultimate test so far. He fought the toughest guy out there. It was one of the greatest fights and he showed a lot of heart and a good chin.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2010.