Saturday, December 13, 2014, Amir Khan takes on Devon Alexander in a 12-round Welterweight clash.
The bout–which will be televised live on Showtime–pits two fighters who are looking at making a statement in hopes of landing a bout against pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Before Khan and Alexander go toe-to-toe, RBRBoxing’s Lou Catalano and Lauren Pinkerton go head-to-head and break down the keys to victory.
Who do you think will win this matchup and will the winner get a shot at Mayweather in 2015?
Key #1 for Amir Khan
Tighten Everything Up
Photo by Peter Cziborra/Action Images
By Lauren Pinkerton
There shouldn’t be an argument here. If we can come together and name Amir Khan’s number one flaw, it’s that he leaves his chin wide out in the open, and when those power punches swarm him, “King Khan” suffers. Weak chin, glass jaw, whatever you want to label it as, Khan has a problem with creating a target with his chin.
The worst part about this problem is that it should be incredibly easy to fix. Go back to Boxing 101 and the first thing any coach is screaming at you is to keep the chin down and the hands up. Somehow the camera’s exploit practically the opposite with Khan.
It’s almost amazing to me that after this reputation has been flung around as often as your weird uncle’s gross football, Khan hasn’t made too much of an effort to diminish it.
If the King wants a shot at getting in the ring with pound-for-pound ruler, Floyd Mayweather, then this dirty look needs to be cleaned up now. Keep the straights close to the face, tuck the chin down, and for the love of all things holy, keep your gloves up!
Key #1 for Devon Alexander
Speed Kills, but Timing Kills Speed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOXJYhXoSGc
By Lou Catalano
While Devon Alexander is far from slow, Amir Khan has ridiculous hand speed, on par with Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
While that can often be troublesome for fighters to handle, Alexander can take away Khan’s advantage by timing him on the way in and catching him with something he doesn’t see. And in Khan’s case, there is often a lot that he doesn’t see.
Now perhaps Khan is through with the days of happily winging bombs without fear of reprisal. A couple of nasty knockouts will do that to you. But something tells me that no matter what defensive posturing Virgil Hunter tries to instill, Khan is still an aggressive fighter at his core–he enjoys mixing it up.
Alexander should take advantage of this aggression and use it against him. Granted, Alexander is not a power puncher, but he’s proven capable of laying a guy out before. If Devon times Khan, while coming in, it could be lights out again.
Key #2 for Amir Khan
Hard Angles
http://youtu.be/B0DYUJYQoLg?t=1m13s
By Lauren Pinkerton
Devon Alexander is basically a mirror image of Amir Khan. The fact that Alexander is a southpaw only makes the situation creepier.
Khan has quick hands, Alexander has quick hands. Khan has good footwork, Alexander does as well. Amir can’t just work with his strengths in this fight, he’s going to have to pull out some secret weapons as well.
One of these secret weapons should be a more angular approach at Alexander. Khan sometimes has a tendency to walk only forward and backwards in a fight, especially in the pocket. Of course Alexander is anticipating the speedy punch combo, but it’s too easy to tag Khan back if his body placement becomes too predictable.
He needs to pop angles more and slither around the pocket more fluidly to keep Alexander on his toes and guessing.
Key #2 for Devon Alexander
Let Your Hands Go!
By Lou Catalano
Too often, Devon Alexander has been content to maneuver around the ring without doing much of anything, to the disdain of his fantastic trainer Kevin Cunningham. He has been frequently outhustled and outworked, simply handing over rounds by not doing a damn thing.
If he takes this approach with Amir Khan, it’s a 12-round shutout. He has to fight with some urgency here. There aren’t too many chances left at the top for him. If he throws his hands, it will keep Khan off of him, and hopefully, it will allow for chances during exchanges.
As we know, Khan has been drilled before. The only way that happens is for Alexander to throw for all 12 rounds. Now he was much busier against Jesus Soto Karass earlier this year, and he’s got to stay that way in order to defeat Khan and possibly set himself up for a shot at losing a 12-round decision to Floyd Mayweather.
