Boxing

Amir Khan vs Marcos Maidana

Amir Khan set out to prove that he had a chin by fighting hard-hitting Marcos Maidana. After the fight, his chin is still a question mark after he was rocked by Maidana in the 10th round, but his courage is not. Maidana seemed to have victory in hand in the 10th, despite being behind on the scorecards, after landing an overhand right hand to Khan's chin. Khan was able to stay on his feet despite a furious barrage of punches by Maidana in the round, but just barely. He was wobbly on his feet, and it seemed improbable that Khan would survive, but survive he did. He ran for most of the last two rounds, but he did gather himself enough to unleash a few flurries. Early on in the fight, it looked to be a mismatch due to Khan's incredible hand speed. Khan was hitting Maidana with three and four punch combinations before Maidana could counter. He dropped Maidana with a perfect left hook to Maidana's body in the first round, and for a moment it appeared that Maidana would not get off the canvas. Khan needed the 10-8 round, and he also got the benefit of a point deduction on Maidana when Maidana slung an elbow as the referee stepped in to stop the action, which enabled Khan to walk away with a close unanimous decision. Khan is to be commended for facing a foe such as Maidana, who had the power to expose Khan's weakness. He is also to be commended for the way he persevered through the last three rounds. Khan's next opponent should be the winner of the Devon Alexander vs Timothy Bradley fight, provided the promoters can get the fight done, and it should be a good one. Maidana should have no problem making a fight after his exciting performance, provided anybody else wants to fight him.