Mild Upset Approaching

You know what Slim, I share your thoughts.

I've got a feeling Paulie will give Khan a completely new experience, and make him do things he's never had to do before. I was watching the Cotto fight the other day, and noticed how strong Paulie can be on the inside. Now seeing as though Khan has little to next to no experience of fighting in close counters, I've got a strong feeling that Paulie will spoil him on the inside, and land a healthy amount of shots in the process.

I too am now picking a Paulie close decision

 

AK will take this one 8-4/9-3. I just don't see it. Cheering for Paulie, though.

 

Count me in. Paulie to win by decision or (if the stars line up right) KO!

 

Amir Khan is one of the most skilled fighters in all of boxing. He is too good to be beat at 140 lbs.

Khan is isnt some type of fraud like Juan Diaz, who Paulie whooped.

 

Maybe in 2/3 years time yes, but as of now I think Bradley, Alexander and Maidana will be too much for him. But I guess we'll get a better understanding after Saturday night, because in Paulie he's got his hands full. It's a definate 12 rounder with a chance to see what new things Khan has learned since the Kotelnik fight, as Paulie will test him in every department (apart from the ability to take a shot maybe).

 

I think it will be a 7-5 type fight for either guy.....Paulie will befuddle khan during good portions of the fight, will it be enough is the question?

I don't expect khan to look good at all, even if he does win....Only one guy has looked very good against paulie, and that was hatton....fair play to ricky, gets full credit from me....Paulie was truly a one-handed fighter in that contest, he hurt his hand in the second n'dou fight and it never fully healed, went forward with ricky to get the pay-day....Cotto had a hard time with paulie at times....

I would be very suprised if Khan TKO's or WIDE UD's Paulie...Expecting a close fight...

 

Amir Khan won over P4P boxer Dimitri Salita (according to Ellie Sechback ) in a 1st round knockout so he has got to be good :thumbsup

Jokes aside, Khan is still young. I think it is a good move that he doesn't take more unnecessary risks than he needs to at this time. He still needs to make his name a household brand and I believe that he has the potential

 

obviously Khan has a suspect chin, but I doubt Malignaggi can be the one to further expose it.

 

Salita was ranked # 1 in the World by the WBA. Khan balsted him. Khan has beaten really good fighters like Barrera and Kotelnik.

 

I like Paulie, but I can't see him beating Khan. Not only is Malignaggi's main physical advantage he enjoys over opponents (his speed) negated, but he doesn't hit hard enough to exploit Khan's Achilles' Heel. That, and Paulie's going to clearly win at least 8 rounds in order to get a decision vs Khan because Golden Boy has a history of screwing over the opposing fighter when they're facing someone making their Golden Boy debut.

I think Paulie can take a few rounds off Amir, but I just don't like his chances of pulling the upset off.

 

That isn't an upset. This is a pick'em.

 

I am really hoping Paulie can pull it out!

 

Kahn beat one fighter named Marco ...and I don't even know if I should count that.

 

I really wouldn't regard it as an upset, even a 'mild' one. The best name on Khan's resume is a very old, arguably shot Barrera. Most people, for good reason, don't even really consider that fight when evaluating him. The next best name is Kotelnik, which is a solid win, but after that there isn't really anything...Salita was woeful, and his domestic level opposition was hardly stellar.

He's thus coming into this fight with ONE truly solid name on his record. Malignaggi, on the other hand, has far, far more experience with top fighters. If anything, this fight is a test for Khan, a way of measuring how good he really is. Malignaggi is hardly A* quality, but he's a decent fighter with good speed, experience, toughness and relatively solid skills. He doesn't fight in the way Kotelnik fought Khan (constant pressure) nor does he provide a sitting target like Salita. This guy moves and boxes, and the last time Khan fought a technical guy with just 'okay', domestic level skills and zero power (Limond, who was the commonwealth champ at the time) he was troubled, and later decked and quite wobbly before coming back for the TKO win in the next round. Granted, that was years ago now, and Khan has improved a lot, but I just think that it's very surprising how so many people view him as the clear favourite here.

We always say 'styles make fights', and we have to ask ourselves how Khan deals with a style like Malignaggi's. Personally, I believe that Khan normally looks at his most dazzling against people with very little lateral/evasive movement around the ring, who are much slower than him. Malignaggi has the speed to stay on the outside and box with him, to draw him into a countering chess game.

That being said, I admit that I would still bet on Khan to win, mainly because he's on another level of speed, and that he's been learning how to employ defensive craft, as well as a form of attack that suits him much more in the past few years, all courtesy of Roach. Roach's gameplan is also the final factor, in that he'll probably know just how to deal with Malignaggi. I don't see it being an easy fight, though...I'll be very surprised if it's another early round blowout. Would be an impressive debut in America.