The perception that Khan is fading or on the decline...

So reading all these comments about how people feel that Amir is a debilitated fighter from how he was before and I'm not sure if people have been seeing an Amir Khan who was different to then or before, because I see the same person.

Amir Khan was no different to how he fought during the times against Malignaggi, Judah where some of you perceive that as his 'prime'. The only reason he's looked in the light of a declining fighter is because he's lost and is still getting hurt. I've seen people mention that they wish he would go back to the way he boxed Judah and Malignaggi. Well, when you have a person with no power and a fighter who got shut down mentally, then he will make the other fighter look like a person in prime to you, but the way in which he actually fought them fights is what tells you what you need to know. If any of you have actually seen the two fights in their entirety, he didn't look all too spectacular in them wins either. He was just as fatally flawed, but neither could capitalise for factors of their own (Malignaggi - No power, Judah - Peanut brain). In the Peterson and Garcia bouts, he was exactly the same fighters he's ALWAYS been, he was just faced with fighters with a significant punch to hurt him and from what seems obvious, is that once Amir is hurt, he's not the exact same fighter when he starts off. Then came his fight w/ Molina where he put in a Malignaggi/Judah esque performance, by no means showing decline there. Then comes last nights bout, a guy who no one realistically looked at as a real opponent, just like many of you did for Peterson and Garcia and didn't really give two shits about looking into his bouts and the way he fights, found out that he gave Khan all the trouble in the world, and because a lot of you kept your opinion about Julio Diaz being an old, blown-up lightweight with supposedly 'no power', a lot of you have come to the opinion that he's on the decline, which shows there was no respect towards Diaz, despite his arguable win over Shawn Porter who IS a very good fighter and his knockout momentum where he'd stopped a few opponents in his last few fights.

The bar is written all too high for Amir, and that is partially his, his team, his promoter and some of his fans fault for mixing his name with Mayweather and such. Diaz was more than formidable, his knowledgeable trainer as well as Diaz's overall confidence clearly showed that he would give Amir trouble. You could hear it in some of the interviews where they dissected Amir's style to a tee just like Garcia & Peterson did. A lot of ignorance by the boxing fans in my opinion when it has come to him. Maybe people should have really looked into the light of Amir's supposedly 'prime' performances, because if you think he was at all different from them fights, you're wrong.Them performances still showed the fundamental points in him that could be exploited. Factors play their part and when you have a fighter with ability and intelligence of knowing what they can capitalise on against Amir Khan, you know you're going to have a bumpy night.

Amir was not exactly impressive, but neither on the decline. He showed he is the same fighter with the same frailties, who in fairness, isn't completely unable in his learning with Hunter, because he showed clear improvement in his survival skills in that fight. It was almost perfect in terms of seeing if he could actually implement that instead of going gun-ho with Diaz after going down and being hurt during the bout, so he's learning somewhat. Whether that stands him in good stead for future 'world class' bouts or not is yet to be seen...

 

I like how people assume Matthysse would decapitate him.

Khan already beat Maidana. Sure LM can stop him, as just about anyone can. Let's not forget that Matthysse 'lost' to Alexander and Judah. The same Judah that Khan stopped. Its not a fight I'd make for him but its not a sure fire loss for him.

 

Laz, when people say he's on the decline, they mostly mean physical. And I have to agree with them.

Against Maidana and Peterson -- two guys who put him through much tougher fights and hit a lot harder than Diaz -- Khan stood up to the shots a lot better. But against Diaz, he practically went down off the first flush left-hook that landed. And he continued to get hurt by lesser shots (than Maidana's and Peterson's) later on.

Honestly, I think we may have to accept the fact that he's taken too many beatings -- Limond, Gomez, Prescott, Maidana, Peterson, Garcia and now Diaz -- to the point where his punch resistence has worsened, and there's no coming back from it. He's too ingrained in his old habits and is lacking the ring IQ to slow down this decline.

 

It's ignorance bro. A lot of it comes down to hype and momentum as well. They see Matthysse taking out Soto (A LW) and Dallas, and they're like "oh ****, he's a killer, he's going to knock everyone out in the 140 division". Last I remember, the 'world class' fighters he fought in Judah and Alexander, made him look poor and ran him close, even if the decisions were controversial, they still didn't show Lucas to be some sort of raging beast.

They just look at Diaz on paper and what they remember. Most probably saw Diaz against Holt and said "**** this guy, he's got no chance, he must be done". Did anyone consider that Holt is one of the hardest punchers out there who put out his signature punch against Diaz? Not only that, but Diaz was in the fight prior to being stopped and that was at 140 pounds IIRC, something Diaz argues had an effect on him, but it's not like any of these guys take any of this into consideration.

And last night when Judah just poured it on Garcia late. Can you imagine if that was Khan in Garcia's shoes and was getting beaten up late by him at this point? It would all just be "He's on the decline" without consideration the other fighters position. So many factors play a part in how you and your opponent may perform. It'll always be that way, though. Khan's bar will always be leveled to a point where even the slightest error will be criticised or questioned, whether it be inside or the ring or outside.

 

To be fair, that is quite a bit of punishment for his age

 

Your in denial Laz

Khan was never a power puncher but his power seems to have diminished but no surprise with his hand injuries.
Physically, he looks more fragile than when he was fighting against Peterson/Maidana etc

 

Exactly. And that's for a person who already had questionable punch resistance from the very beginning.

 

Basically this. Khan has taken some serious beatings already. Khan isn't going to get any better now. You can't keep fighting like Khan does and expect longevity. He is exciting and entertaining, but he's a KO waiting to happen again.

 

Lol, if Julio Diaz had Khan on ***** Street, what would Matthysse do?

 

Yeah, and my point being Rico, he looks this way when he's been hurt or down, right? It's never when he's been in that position does he look on the decline physically.

It doesn't matter if they hit harder, Rico. Factors play their part and every fight is different. Just because he's faced harder punching fighters and has shown he's been hurt by a supposedly weaker puncher afterwards, does not mean it's physical decline necessarily. Could it be playing a toll? Neither of us can really know. Like I said, factors play their part. Maidana hit Khan with the kitchen sink around fifty times and Garcia needed one big one to KD and hurt Khan. The factor in that being? He didn't see the shot, which every boxer says "is the one's that hurt you", right? So it's all things to consider. Like last night, he was literally caught by the same shot Garcia and Prescott caught him with. In the 11th, he was clocked flush by three or four hard hooks to the heads by Diaz which scrambled his equilibrium. Rico, there is no set level for what you start off with in terms of punch resistance. It does not get weaker, in my opinion. That's just a BS perception that people have. Factors play their part and no head or body is made to withstand shots, whether the fighter he fought last night had a weaker punch than them or not.

 

Oh sorry I forgot that's the way it works doesn't it. atsch Silly me.

Lol, if Zab Judah can beat Matthysse, what would Khan do?

 

Any evidence to prove that the perception is BS?

 

Denial about what? :huh

I never claimed Khan to be a power puncher. Don't know where you picked that up from. No, his power's not diminished at all. Did you see more power in his bouts with Malignaggi, Judah, Maidana and McCloskey? Because I didn't.

Physically from an aesthetic stand point or because you see him getting hurt? Mate, he's never the same once he gets hurt in that ring. That's been evident in his bouts with Maidana, Pederson and Garcia. The fact that he was hurt early in that, he was still affected all the way through and this has shown in his bouts with the three I just mentioned as well.

 

Any evidence to prove it's correct? Wasn't Amir Khan the guy who got dropped and hurt by the light hitting Willie Limond and Michael Gomez?

I'm not going to try and sound like some know it all nob, but I've studied the body and sparred. Factors play a role, and no body is prepared to take a shot. There's literally thousands of examples of fighters who've been clocked and hurt and knocked out to face biggers fighters with better punches and win. There's just SO many elements that come into play that you just can't always put it down to 'punch resistance'.

 

Never said that you claimed Khan was a power puncher:huh

You didn't see that bodyshot against Maidana/Judah? Khan looked a lot sharper against Maidana etc and dropped Peterson. Against Malignaggi he was snapping his head back and forced a stoppage