CLASSY KHAN KEEPS HIS PROMISE, SHUTS MALIGNAGGI?S MOUTH
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 16 May 2010
Classy 22 year old Amir Khan, the WBA light welterweight champion did what conditioning expert Alex Ariza promised he would do and that was to shut the mouth of Paulie Malignaggi who had accused pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao of being on performance enhancing drugs and by insinuation, Khan himself.
The former 2004 Athens Olympic Games silver medalist gave Malignaggi the beating of his life winning every round in their showdown at Madison Square Garden in New York before trainer Freddie Roach gave Khan the green light to finish the loud-mouthed Malignaggi going into round eleven.
Khan did just that, hammering Malignaggi with a stinging jab that rocked the American?s head back throughout the fight and landing some big right hands with remarkable speed that Malignaggi couldn?t handle.
Khan took almost total control in the middle of the fight and except for an occasional jab and a couple of combinations to the body Malignaggi was totally inept against a fighter who made his American debut a memorable one in a fight telecast by Solar Sports in the Philippines where Khan has many fans because of his friendship with Pacquiao and the respect he gives the ?Fighter of the Decade? aside from standing by Pacquiao against all the allegations of his use of performance enhancing drugs without a shred of evidence.
In a post fight interview Ariza told us that trainer Freddie Roach ?kept telling him what to do and to stick with the game-plan and at the end of round ten told Khan ?that?s enough, its time to make a statement. Go out there and knock this guy out. Stop him now. Freddie gave him the green light and let him loose.?
At 1:25 of the eleventh round referee Steve Smoger who had checked on Malignaggi at the end of round ten and acceded to a plea to let him continue had seen enough and stopped the unmerciful beating with Khan effectively scoring a shutout and proving that he deserves to be up there with the best.
Ariza noted that because of the visa problems that hounded Khan they ?broke camp at the most crucial point, the pinnacle where we were just about to peak. We lost two solid weeks of conditioning training. He stepped it up and he had worked so hard for four or five weeks that it carried him through.?
Ariza said he thought Khan ?did extremely well despite having to break camp, having to stop training and he went out there and still performed under the worst circumstances that could have happened.?
Top photo: Britain's Amir Khan lands a punch on Paulie Malignaggi during their WBA light-welterweight World Championship bout at Madison Square Garden in New York, May 15, 2010. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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