I haven't watched the fight for a while, but I remember Khan sweeping up the majority of the middle rounds and looking good doing it. In fact I thought he was coasting until he got clipped and went into spaz-mode. That fight was great and sums up peak Khan - exciting fight, blistering hand speed, low ring IQ, vulnerable but with the heart of 10 lions who each have the heart of 10 lions.
Maidana is a horrible fighter. I've picked Khan the same day this fight was announced and still shocked that people gave Maidana a chance despite his limitations. Maidana swings wildly, has no defense, can't cut off the ring, terrible finisher and is very predictable. Power all alone wasn't going to win him that fight. An ancient Morales beat him and got robbed, enough said.
I think Ariza was a key factor. If I remember right, Khan has never even hit the canvas during any of the fights he had with Ariza helping him. When he tried to replace Ariza, he looked worse than usual (the McCloskey fight and the Garcia loss). He was also able to take quite a few hard punches from Peterson, and I thought he won that fight, even though it was very close. People should also remember that he was in very serious trouble in the tenth round. Another referee might have even stopped it, because Khan was getting punched around the ring and he was flopping all over the place. It was heart and conditioning that kept him upright in that round.
Because Khan showed he has a heart as good as anyone. He got dropped in his last fight as well and showed the courage of a true world champ. HE WILL be pound-4-pound champ someday, believe me
Maidana would kick Matthyse ass just like he did in the amateurs. Maidana is the much better than Matthyse.
ref help him...khan wasnt throwing anymore in the 10th and was just holding on...it should have been stopped...