Wow....and the other day I almost bought some magic beans from Tony that would have made me an undefeated amateur :yep Nice one Ally T. I know there are exceptions, but generally most of the good pros have excellent amateur records as well. Of course having a good amateur record is no guarantee of becoming a successful pro, but before pro boxing was banned in Cuba, there were plenty of qulality performers Kid Gavilán, Niño Valdés, Luis Manuel Rodríguez, Benny Paret, José Legra, Mantequilla Nápoles, Douglas Valliant, Florentino Fernández, Ángel Robinson García, Chico Veliz, etc..... whos to say that legacy would not have continued. I 'd confidently say Guillermo Rigondeaux would beat any world champion up to Featherweight including Marquez with 10-12 pro fight experience. Him with 8oz gloves is truly frightening. There is nothing to convince me that Khan will have to fight anyone more skilled than Super Mario. Yes he will have tougher fights in terms of harder punchers, fitter athletes, dirtier fighters, but i dont think he will have to face anyone with as much boxing skill.
Not at all, the guy was a beautiful boxer. I look at amateur boxing like school, your learning the fundamentals of the sport. Your learning how to cope with the occasion. A good amateur will have good fundamentals. A guy with good fundamentals will be a good fighter and Kindelan would have graduated from amateur boxing with A*'s, Hons, Diplomas coming out of ears. Kindelan would have been a tremeandous fighter- I know amateurs who outbox the pro's in the gyms where i've trained all the time.
No; Khan has been learning his trade on national TV, there has been nothing wrong with his opposition so far. The only criticism I would level at him and his management is he does not fight often enough, but seems the way now a days :? As for the Limond fight; it is a fair test, and I think he will take Amir the distance, as I suspect Amir does not have too much of a punch to go with his excellent boxing talent. Khan WU12 (12-0 or maybe 11-1)
Yo AllyT. Great argument. Cotto was a kid at the time, Tito win far more valid! Khan was also a kid. But your argument stands. He'd have been a great.
Agreed, most pro boxers who are successful have had outstanding amateur records. I also know the records are often incomplete. I also reckon that things have changed as the pro and amateur codes have diverged. Amateur is all about point scoring and is now more like fencing with lateral movement. In days gone by boxers who were less robust were found out as amateurs. This no longer happens. For me the danger for Khan is not from a skillful boxer as I believe Khan to be a very skillfull young man. Where he is untested is "in the trenches". If Khan is to be beaten I think it will be a pressure fighter that does it. Limmond is a tough wee man and this will be an interesting test as although Khan will dominate, especially early on, Limmond will catch him at some point and then we will have a better idea about his long term plans.
Again AllyT, good point. What will Amir be like be he's under pressure, on the back foot. We know he can move, box, and punch. What happens in rounds 7-10, followed by the championship rounds when he's thrown everything and can't get an opponent out? I really think he'll fare well. There are a number of scenarios to play out here. If he can out box Willie (possibility if not a given) then he'll be happy to tuck rounds under his pro belt and take a decision, of that I'm convinced. The crowd might not like it (most Khan fans from TV coverage appear to be band-wagoners or casual) but that's just tough. If Limond can take Khan to the later rounds (potential of slow-down, punch-out, etc.) then he's a great chance. If he can catch Khan early (he's not a devastating puncher - but will have enough arsenal to hurt Khan if he can catch him cold enough) then he'll keep Khan away I would guess. If he can out box Khan for 2-3 rounds then this would be really interesting as we know Khan is come forward, likes to throw punches and is generally a ring aggressor. This scenario might be the most interesting. I can't wait.
Agree with most of your points....I think limond is a tough cookie and Khan will win a UD. But it would be crazy to expect him to win all 12 rounds. Isn't this his first 12 rounder. I do disagree though with your assessment of Khan as a come forward aggressive fighter. I dont think he is. we may have seen that against the lesser lights of the british division, but I think Khan is really a counter puncher. He likes his opponent to come at him, so he can use his fast hands and feet to hit and get away. the problem is (and I'm not sure what Limonds startegy will be) most of the guys he fought have not come at him and actually been quite defensive, so he has to press the fight which is alien to his natural tactics, although obviously good for preparing him for different sytles.
