AMIR KHAN IS FAVORED OVER BARRERA
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 11 Mar 2009
Another rising boxer from the Wild Card Gym is slated to fight for superstardom. Amir Khan, who will face Marco Antonio Barrera, is the current Commonwealth lightweight champion, WBO intercontinental lightweight champion, and WBA international lightweight champion. Khan is from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, like Ricky Hatton who is also from Greater Manchester in Hyde.
Khan started by winning his first eighteen straight fights as a professional. But when he lost to a taller and bigger Colombian boxer Breidis Prescott in just 54 seconds after knocking him down twice, he replaced his trainer with Freddie Roach. Khan began training with him in the Wild Card Gym, where he sparred with world lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
Khan is set to fight former seven-time and three-weight world champion Barrera on March 14, 2009 at the Manchester Evening News Arena. The veteran Barrera is his biggest named opponent so far. Barrera is ranked No. 1 and Khan is the No. 9 contender in the WBO world lightweight rankings.
Khan had a colorful amateur boxing career when he began to compete at the age of 11, with three English school titles, three junior ABA titles and gold at the 2003 Junior Olympics. He won a gold medal at the European Student Championships and later won world junior lightweight title.
Khan?s amateur popularity rose further when he became Britain's sole representative in boxing at the 2004 Athens Olympics. At age 17, he won a silver medal in the lightweight category. He was Britain's youngest Olympic boxer ever. But he lost in the finals to Cuban Mario Kindelan who also defeated him in the pre-Olympic fights in Greece. He later avenged the two losses by beating Kindelan in his final amateur fight.
Khan promised after the 2004 Olympics that he would focus on winning a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But he turned professional in 2005, signing with England's top boxing promoter, Frank Warren. This was mainly due to a conflict with the English Amateur Boxing Association over the ticket allocation for his family and friends during the English ABA Finals.
Nate Campbell was stripped of his IBF and WBO world lightweight title belts after moving up to the lightwelterweight division. Khan's promoter Warren and Barrera's promoter Don King requested the WBO to declare the Khan-Barrera fight a world lightweight title eliminator. But the world-title category was instead given to Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz, who were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively by the WBO.
Barrera, if he wins, hopes to become the first Mexican boxer to win world titles at four different weights. He is ranked No 1 by the WBO, with Khan at No 9. Roach said he expects Khan to be too fast and too strong for the veteran Mexican. The 35-year-old veteran will be having his first big encounter in the lightweight division when he battles Khan. He says the British boxer's flaws will give him a big opportunity of triumph. ?I'm pretty sure I'm going to win,? declared Barrera.
Barrera described Khan as a good fighter who has speed but has a ?questionable chin.? It was evidenced by his first loss to Prescott. He wanted this fight for him to get into the bigger fights if he wins. He saw fighting Khan as a stepping stone to revive his aging career. But Khan has four inches advantage in height and is 13 years younger than Barrera which could be the main deciding factor.
Top photo: Khan (L) with Roach at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles. Photo by Miguel Salazar.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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