Frank William Randall vs. Amir Iqbal Khan

Who takes it at LWW, each on their optimal form?

Their respective stewardship of the WBA title (Randall as the organization's 24th & 26th champion, from 1994-96 and then reclaiming briefly from 1996-97; Khan as its 37th from 2009-11) were in the grand scheme not that far removed, but the pair actually didn't have any overlap in their careers. That's with as short a gap as it gets, however: Amir's professional debut came on July 15th, 2005 - exactly one day after Frankie's last bout.

Both dabbled early at (but were decidedly over-sized for) lightweight, and both fought reasonably well at welter and rather less so at 154lbs. A couple of true blue natural buck-forties.

...and the similarities pile up:

1. both make for stock-standard poster-boys for the concept of a "world class glass cannon" (to be fair, ten of Randall's dozen stoppage losses did come in this millennium, therefore after his passing the seventeen year mark in the pros....and yet he was dropped several times in his peak days by Carr, Rosario, and I believe all of his fights with Coggi; Amir's bombastic imbroglios upon getting hit flush are well-documented. They were both, however, equally as capable of knocking out damn near anyone they faced - in particular at 140. Their kayo ratios are deceptively low, and nearly identical Randall 54.55%; Khan 53.85%...)
2. both are renowned mostly for their hand speed, footwork, and money-punch right cross from range - but each comes with an underrated (and underused) body-punching game.
3. both had successful amateur careers and, eerily, both won 91% of their bouts (Randall going 263-23 and Khan 101-9)
4. both are 3x world champions - all in the same division, and in either man's case involving two WBA reigns and one additional (WBC for Randall, IBF for Khan).
5. both had exactly 15 bouts against current, former or future world titlists. Randall went 6-8-1 and Khan 11-4, both with three kayos)
6. both fought against p4p-rated Mexican legends, and both acquitted themselves well (Randall going 1-2 in his rivalry with JCC, and Khan bagging a few rounds before succumbing to a larger, younger Canelo Álvarez in a valiant but ill-advised bid for a middleweight strap).
7. both have a lengthy history of cuts from head clashes affecting their matches to varying degrees.
8. both stand precisely 5'8".

I think it would make for a gentlemanly fencing duel, perhaps veering on tedium for a few rounds - until somebody gets jolted by a right in a blink-of-an-eye defensive laps. Then, it gets fun.

 

That's a pretty mature take, actually - I'm sure many won't be able to restrain themselves from assuming the big splashy ending here.

I can definitely see a tumultuous journey over twelve, with the potential for knockdowns traded (perhaps even within the same rounds) but withstood, leaving judges & press row confounded...but yeah, prime Randall's class bearing out.

 

1. Forget contrasting their geriatric campaigns, focus on primes and MAB >>> EM , but that's a whole other ball of wax...
   
   
   
2. @George Crowcroft, re: Cinnamon Girl, honestly, being put in a position of having to say this has the bile rising up in my throat, but...dude has etched himself among the greats...está claro. Mind you, he's still no Superstar, nor Chava (hell, not sure he's even quite past Dinamita or Finito, yet, in my book) but he's on the annals. Nothing to be done for it.
   
   
   
3. Let's get things back on track here:
   
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