Gomez

c1979

Will be bottle it.?

He's not doing the usuall mouthing off.

How strong will Gomez be a light weight remember he couldnt ko McDonagh at this weight.

Poor performance against Johansen,

Gomez is 8/1 on paddy power to win. Nu-t if he wins it will be a ko these are the p power odds for gomez to ko khan:
RD 1-2 66/1
RD3 -5 125/1
RD6-12 125/1

a **** it khan will probably KO him!

dc69

he is Irish isnt he?

Hope he knocks khan the **** out.

I wonder if Barry Mcguigan is a pundit tonight will forget he is Irish again?

cowzerp

Gomez is a disease! i lost all respect for him after that stupid mcdonagh fight and truly believe he had money on it, just mcdonagh was so weak that he could not even make it look genuine!

yomchi

cowzerp wrote: »

Gomez is a disease! i lost all respect for him after that stupid mcdonagh fight and truly believe he had money on it, just mcdonagh was so weak that he could not even make it look genuine!

+ 1.
I hope Khan KO's him in less than 3. Thats my prediction anyway.

ODD-JOB

4-5 round fight imo

have disliked gomez since he threw the mc donagh fight.
nothing to do with the money i lost

03mcgs0

To quote Kevin Keegan "I would love it, love it if Gomez beats Kahn, love it!

Ok he threw a fight against McDonagh, but after all he is Irish and I feel in a way we should all get behind him. He is fighting one of Englands best fighters so lets forget his past (which will be hard for some to do) and get behind him.

Within saying that I do think he'll get KO'd early in the fight! But wat the hell I hope he tests Khan to see how good he (Khan) really is.....

alanceltic

+1,

id love to see him win but he just doesnt have the skills or the willpower and it will prove to be a complete missmatch imo but id love to see an upset....cmon the gomez

Mikel

Khan just claimed in his interview his bf% is 1.5. ****ing liar

alanceltic

Hugely impressed with the effort tht Gomez put into this fight, he was clearly out of his depth bu kept plugging away and he certainly redeemed himself from the Mcdonagh sham.. I really enjoyed watchin him make Khan struggle, if he had a bit more about him he could probably have caused an upset. I think the stoppage was questionable BUT i would have been fearful that he could have seriously been hurt in later rounds such was the punishment he was taking and you would have to respect the judges decision. Khan, whilst a very good talent has flaws and doesnt like being hit back, this isnt the first time that he has been asked questions by what should be bread and butter opponents.

Mikel

+1, it was actually a brave effort, but it raises more questions about Khan than it answers. After that farce from ITV I've decided he's not what he claims to be. They built Gomez up beforehand as a dangerous opponent with no mention of the McDonagh fiasco. Obvioulsy Warren thought his man would win easy. He was completely unimpressive, was rattled while he would probably have won got a generous stoppage from the ref.
Afterwards all the talk was about the step up to fighting 'world class opponents like Michael Gomez'
As Dunphy would say, he's a cod.

King of Kings

Mikel wrote: »

Khan just claimed in his interview his bf% is 1.5. ****ing liar

i giggled when i heard that...

dunno what to make oif the fight - showed khan can dig deep and take heavy shots but there are much tougher fitter guys out there who'll take it to khan

i doubt he'd last too long with an inside fighter of hatton's class.
if only they were similar weights i would if he'd be calling hatton out.

I think khan is class but to claim he'd be fighting manny in a year is plain silly.
warren knows it too.

sligobhoy67

I was at the fight - great craic - me and a mate missed the last train and we got a lift back to Manchester on the Gomez/Armstrong family bus - talk about wild!!

cowzerp

What a great fight, i really enjoyed it, gomez fought like he did years ago, before the mcdonagh fight-kahn showed plenty of weaknesses, but he is awesome on the offence, great to watch,...

Big Ears

I said somewhere a few days ago that a prime Gomez would of been too good for Khan and I think I've been proved right . I've also thought Khan would be too vulnerable at World level and it appears I may be right about that too .

Walshb will be disappointed, he had high hopes for Khan and saw a lot of potential in him .

Hero Of College

Mikel wrote: »

+1, it was actually a brave effort, but it raises more questions about Khan than it answers. After that farce from ITV I've decided he's not what he claims to be. They built Gomez up beforehand as a dangerous opponent with no mention of the McDonagh fiasco. Obvioulsy Warren thought his man would win easy. He was completely unimpressive, was rattled while he would probably have won got a generous stoppage from the ref.
Afterwards all the talk was about the step up to fighting 'world class opponents like Michael Gomez'
As Dunphy would say, he's a cod.

Or....my favourite...a "BENGAL LANCER" {Chancer}....Khan was BADLY showed up last night by a past-his-best Super-Feather. The best part of what Mick had to offer last night was bravery and heart and the odd left hook. And that was almost enough to win. If the size difference wasn't so extreme, he would have taken him. Khan was hurt to the body and to the head by a guy who doesn't even have a right hand.

Some of his blasts were impressive, especially after been hurt to the midsection. But the simple truth is that he was fighting a much smaller, shopworn man. And he nearly lost!

And I'll tell you...Khans punch is overrated to fukc. He is sharper than he is hard. He missed with his last 5 shots too, reminds me a bit of Golota in that when he gets too close he just misses shot after shot. Generous stoppage, and the count was taken up late too on the knockdown in the 2nd.

Wouldn't be surprised if he was forced to sign a new contract with ITV...can't see SKY or Set shelling out. Then again, Set did sign Haye, who is just a cruiser version of Amir so.....

Hero Of College

Big Ears wrote: »

I said somewhere a few days ago that a prime Gomez would of been too good for Khan and I think I've been proved right . I've also thought Khan would be too vulnerable at World level and it appears I may be right about that too .

Walshb will be disappointed, he had high hopes for Khan and saw a lot of potential in him .

Amir Khan is the sort of guy you could make a brilliant highlight reel of. Coming forward against guys that have no answer for his speed, size and athelticism he looks unstoppable. Like Haye. He's doing what Gatti used to to- he's coming into the fight with a massive size advantage and he is teeing off with aplomb. On that footing, you would fancy him against anyone. If he gets Nate Campbell trapped he'll kill him. I mean, Peden was no more than a 130lbr too.

Problem is, Amir gets hit back. His midsection is mush, 6 pack or no six pack. His body fat is reduced to a point where he can weigh in at 135 and bully littler guys, but like David Reid, he has compromised his internal health. And now it seems his jaw is finest bone. Bone China. Ming Dynasty maybe, but China nonetheless. He can't fight worth a sh!t on the inside. He's relying on home-town refs to allow him to tee off with 10 shots and miss all of them and just stop the fight. Like Winky Wright once said about Vargas {in the run up to their fight} "he throws a whole bunch of shots and they just stop it....he ain't got no big hitting power" Corralles would have eaten him for little-lunch.

When was the last time he actually fought a big lightweight with an ounce of pedigree?? His last two opponents are/were coming off stoppages and have a spotted history of tough fights/stoppages and some decent wins.

Hatton fought a fair degree of smaller men too, of course, but NEVER showed the same degree of vulnerability at all. The most vulnerability he ever showed pre-Tszyu was the cut vs Thaxton and the flooring vs Magee. The fact that Thaxton was being mooted as a potential Khan opponent some 8 years after Ricky beat him puts the whole sham in its proper perspective. At least Hatton was fighting guys in his own weight division who were real genuine threats.

Personally, I think Khan is on a sticky wicket. He's out of contract. He's got other options too, outside the ring. Does he plough on and run the risk of embarassment and defeat, potentially hazardous defeat, or does he rack up a few more wins and suddenly announce his retirement? Its not like he'll starve if he does. Interesting times for young Amir......

dc69

Hero Of College wrote: »

Personally, I think Khan is on a sticky wicket. He's out of contract. He's got other options too, outside the ring. Does he plough on and run the risk of embarassment and defeat, potentially hazardous defeat, or does he rack up a few more wins and suddenly announce his retirement? Its not like he'll starve if he does. Interesting times for young Amir......

Hes hardly gona retire bit I do agree he is a joke.

walshb

Big Ears wrote: »

I said somewhere a few days ago that a prime Gomez would of been too good for Khan and I think I've been proved right . I've also thought Khan would be too vulnerable at World level and it appears I may be right about that too .

Walshb will be disappointed, he had high hopes for Khan and saw a lot of potential in him .

In France at the moment, so I never got to see the fight and youtube here is not available, for me anyway. Anyway, I was told that it was a very good fight and Gomez was very good and even managed to floor Amir, as well as really hurt him to the body. Look, like I said before; Khan is not even 22 yet, he is still learning and will meet the best soon; but the signs aren't all that great regarding his ability to take a shot. What will happen when he meets a banger with a chin?

If Khan surprises us all and proves he has a chin, then IMO, he will be a real real force. He has the speed, skill, stamina and very decent power. It will be hard for any 135 lber to out box that combination

DC69, how the hell is an Olympic silver medalist at 17 who is still undefeated
as a pro and still only 21 a JOKE?:rolleyes:

Hero Of College

walshb wrote: »

In France at the moment, so I never got to see the fight and youtube here is not available, for me anyway. Anyway, I was told that it was a very good fight and Gomez was very good and even managed to floor Amir, as well as really hurt him to the body. Look, like I said before; Khan is not even 22 yet, he is still learning and will meet the best soon; but the signs aren't all that great regarding his ability to take a shot. What will happen when he meets a banger with a chin?

If Khan surprises us all and proves he has a chin, then IMO, he will be a real real force. He has the speed, skill, stamina and very decent power. It will be hard for any 135 lber to out box that combination

And how the hell is an Olympic silver medalist at 17 who is still undefeated
as a pro and still only 21 a JOKE?:rolleyes:

I never said he was a joke, do I don't know how that chap can "agree" with me that he is a "joke". What IS a "joke" is ITV and their presentation of the affair. Some fine day Khan is going to throw 20 unanswered shots which all miss and they are not going to stop the fight. Whats he going to do then??

Fact is, 4 years into his professional career, he's getting floored for fun by smaller men and is showing an alarming lack of resistance. Worse yet, guys like Earl and Gomez were not even brilliant fighters in their own right.

Why would he suddenly show a better chin later on against better fighters? I think its a fair bet that his biggest flaws at the moment are:-

1. A lack of innate resistance.
2.The abuse of a size advantage
3.An inability to fight on the inside.
4.Tendency to drop hands.
5.Tendency to miss a lot of shots.

I don't know how you come to afford him the status of having "great stamina" either. In my opinion, his work gets noticeably sloppier the further past the 1st round he goes.

In fairness, there are enough of titles out there for him to win at least 1, and then fight total bums, make some money, and then cash out. Right now, thats his best-case-scenario. The worst case scenario is that he finally gets caught out before he gets around to fighting for a belt.

walshb

I don't think I said great stamina, though from watching him, his stamina IMO, is NOT an issue. His chin IS and his defence IS and his ability to suck it up IS. He's not perferct, I know; but many great fighters had their
weaknesses. Of those weaknesses, it's the CHIN that will see him lose, as defence is only as good as your chin really, unless of course you can avoid taking shots for 12 rds, which is highly unlikely

Big Ears

Hero Of College wrote: »

1. A lack of innate resistance.
2.The abuse of a size advantage
3.An inability to fight on the inside.
4.Tendency to drop hands.
5.Tendency to miss a lot of shots.

The punch resistance is one of the main two worries I have with Khan , the other(and it is partially involved in his inability to fight on the inside) is that he comes forward in straight lines , and when he gets in there he never dips laterally to land a body shot or allow himself to mix up hooks and uppercuts .
It's steam forward in a straight line throwing very fast(and accurate normally it must be said) flurry shots of straight lefts and rights till the man is on the ropes and then keep flurring in a straight line .

A guy like Katsidis who doesn't cover up into a ball under fire is very likely to catch Khan when he comes in the line that , because he is squared up and the hands are low while he's firing shots , and the chin is in the air .
It's one flaw that I'm shocked they haven't eradicated yet as I felt it is something that should have been done early in the transition from amateur to pro .



One thing I'm worried about too is that imo Willie Limond is still the best fighter he has fought , and since the trouble in that fight they have taken on easier opposition that is tailer made to make him look good . Willie Limond is an extremely good technical boxer with very good handspeed and just lacking the durability and power to fight at World level . If Khan were to fight Limond again I think he'd probably win but I'd see him being caused similar problems to all those fights ago . He's just not developing as he should and fights with Lawton, Earl, St. Clair and Kristjansen are creating an illusion that his flaws are being corrected when in the main they're just not .

Frank Warren has got his back against a wall now, the ITV contract is up and with Khan looking poor against Gomez they may not renew(although if the tv ratings were good for Gomez they may invest in a short term deal) . Now if ITV don't sign a new deal for Khan he'll presumely just go on Setanta with the rest of Sports Network fighters .

Warren realises Khan can't be rushed with his current ability and that he needs more learning fights , Khan and his team could well become frustrated with this .

Khan is running out of time at Lightweight, and the bigger punch and better punch resistance of fighters at Light-Welterweight will make things tough for Khan . So there is the problem of giving him enough time to be nurtured without waiting too long .

The good news for Khan though is now that Yuri Romanov has vacated the European title Khan can fight for for that without getting brutally exposed as a prospect who(despite having amazing speed of both hand and foot) is flawed technically and can't take a punch at the higher level .

Romanov would of taken Khan to school .

megadodge

Have to say I'm not remotely surprised at the barrage of criticism (some justified, some ridiculous - "nearly lost" against Gomez being the dumbest) Khan is receiving here.

Of the justified criticisms, the obvious question of his chin is very legitimate and has been since Limond floored and hurt him. Gomez floored but didn't hurt him and although Khan felt that body shot, he fired right back. There's absolutely no lack of bottle/grit/determination from Khan. The guy will fight til the bitter end and anyone who can't see that will never see anything.

I don't know whether fighting at the lightweight limit is having an effect on his durability, as it did on Oscar De la Hoya when he fought at super-feather and was very unconvincing, once being badly shook by Bredhal from Denmark who was a complete non-puncher, but in higher weights Oscar proved to have an excellent chin.
I think the longer Khan stays at lightweight (he's huge) the more likely he is to be stopped, as the body can only take so much abuse in terms of weight loss and the first thing to be affected is durability.

There are criticisms over his punch power, which are unjustified. Nobody has claimed him to be the new Tommy Hearns (now there's someone who achieved a hell of a lot with an iffy chin), but his punches are very sharp and accurate. They are what I'd call 'hurtful' punches rather than 'heavy' and anyone taking them will respect them.

He has very good stamina. What fight has he showed signs of tiredness ?

I agree with Big Ears to a certain extent in relation to the 'straight lines' point. That has been obvious for quite a while now. However, he is a very straight puncher (absolutley nothing wrong with that), so dipping to the side to land (shorter) hooks is kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul. He has an excellent right uppercut - don't know how anyone could have missed that on Saturday, but left hooks to the head just ain't his forte (a la Hearns).
He also holds his chin too high when in close and I was remarking on this when he was following up the 1st round knockdown and it was the same when he got floored himself. This is probably his biggest technical flaw and needs to be worked on IMMEDIATELY !

Overall, while he has flaws, I think nobody will ever 'outbox' him, but there is most definitely the possibility of him getting floored while ahead on points and although trying to fight back being stopped by a followup. However, I have no doubts he will win a 'world' title (one of the big 4). He could well lose a fight or two before then, but he's too good offensively not to win one.

walshb

Great post Mega; and I think folks are forgetting that Khan has risen from the floor to demolish his opponents; that stands for something. He is going to be extremely difficult to out box and if you want to beat Khan, you better get him out of there and you better be prepared for his speed and power combined. He's no Hearns, but he's also no Pep; he has very decent power and with his speed and volume, this is a great fighter, and still very young...

Hero Of College

walshb wrote: »

Great post Mega; and I think folks are forgetting that Khan has risen from the floor to demolish his opponents; that stands for something. He is going to be extremely difficult to out box and if you want to beat Khan, you better get him out of there and you better be prepared for his speed and power combined. He's no Hearns, but he's also no Pep; he has very decent power and with his speed and volume, this is a great fighter, and still very young...

Yeah. Limond and Gomez. Neither of whom got laid out by Amir. Marciano got up and stretched Walcott. 10 Count. Marciano got up and stretched Moore. 10 count.

Amir got up and flurried and stopped Mick Gomez, a 31 year old lower-division fighter who was coming off a stoppage loss to a guy who just lost by stoppage. Gomez finished on his feet, with Khan missing his last 5 shots.

Amir got up and Willie Limond, a lower-division fighter who lost to a guy who lost to Gomez like 5 years ago... quit on his stool with an injury he had incurred BEFORE he floored Khan.

The truth of the matter lies somewhere between the contention which some have made to the extent that Khan nearly lost and Khan was 1 punch from defeat, and the contention on the other side which others are making to the effect that Khan is some sort of Felix Trinidad-esque fighter who rises from a flash knockdown to absolutely beat the **** out of people.

Even if he did, and even if they were just flash knockdowns, {which they most certainly ain't} there is a world of difference between David Reid and Fernando Vargas on one hand and Mick Gomez and Wille Limond on the other. Importantly, Gomez and Limond rose to Khans division, whereas Tito went UP to Vargas/Reid level. Drilzane, Gomez and Limond are not killers.

Khan is having a giraffe when he refers to guys like Mick Gomez as "world class". I'll tell you, there are very few "world-class" 31 year old former 130lbrs operating in the 135lb divsion fighting guys who have 17-0 records. And Mick Gomez certainly is not one of them. He's a tough, European level fighter who could have been a lot more, but whatever he COULD have been he is way past it now.

I reiterate- I fancy him to win a world title. There are too many belts and therefore too many possibilities for him to NOT win a title. But he reminds me of Lewis Hamilton. He better hurry up and win it soon, otherwise he risks becoming an nearly-man who had a whirlwind start before is shortcomings caught up with him.

Gomez has already summed it up best, as I would say so myself: great accuracy, great speed, no power, world class with world class vulnerabilities. It is going to take matchmaking of the very best sort to turn him into a world champion that people can regard as such, as opposed to a guy with a belt who has pretensions of championship.

Mikel

Hero Of College wrote: »

Khan is having a giraffe when he refers to guys like Mick Gomez as "world class".............. Gomez has already summed it up best, as I would say so myself: great accuracy, great speed, no power, world class with world class vulnerabilities. It is going to take matchmaking of the very best sort to turn him into a world champion that people can regard as such, as opposed to a guy with a belt who has pretensions of championship.

I don't know enough to critique his technique, but Saturday night struck me as a bandwagon that even Warren doesn't believe in. I know you expect everything to be hyped to the eyeballs, especially a british fighter on ITV. But it all struck me as a bit of smoke and mirrors. Portraying a past it journey man as some kind of major step up in class, and the fight as being about Khan getting up to demolish his opponent as they were trying to do...It seemed to me they were all trying too hard.
Like you say I think his future is careful matchmaking and cashing in before the wheels come off. There's nothing unusual about that obviously, but it's a long way off his claim of 'I'm going to dominate divisions'

Hero Of College

Mikel wrote: »

I don't know enough to critique his technique, but Saturday night struck me as a bandwagon that even Warren doesn't believe in. I know you expect everything to be hyped to the eyeballs, especially a british fighter on ITV. But it all struck me as a bit of smoke and mirrors. Portraying a past it journey man as some kind of major step up in class, and the fight as being about Khan getting up to demolish his opponent as they were trying to do...It seemed to me they were all trying too hard.
Like you say I think his future is careful matchmaking and cashing in before the wheels come off. There's nothing unusual about that obviously, but it's a long way off his claim of 'I'm going to dominate divisions'

Its possible the guy could move up to 140 and put on some extra weight and be far more comfortable. It could be that his weight is like a knife edge and Khans troubles are related to that knife-edge.

It could be that he is trying, a la David Haye, to blood himself in safer, shallower waters, with his deficiencies in chin being amplified rather than masked by the weight issue.

At 5'10" or so, he would still be a pretty largish Junior-Welter. Hell, he'd even be a pretty large Welter.

But I don't expect to see an increase in power. The bottom line is he is barely buzzing guys at 135 cos of his size, speed and accuracy. He's not laying anybody out period. And thats going to be his undoing at the heavier weight, IMHO.

He might be more resilient, but he's not going to be able to keep them off.

As I say, he's got some major decisions to make.

walshb

Well I finally got to watch the fight and I have to say, I was quite impressed with both Khan and Gomez and I saw a marked improvememt in Khan.
His defence was better, inside body work and outside body work was impressive. He was under serious pressure and fought brilliantly on the back foot, which is so so so so hard to do. He threw tons of shots and combos and was very accurate and his finishing was top class. Yes, he was knocked down; but if you look closely, you will see it was from both being slightly off balance as well as a flush shot. He bounced right back up and went to work.

This fight IMO showed a better Khan, stronger, faster, tougher and better conditioned even. He can and I hope will; only improve

Big Ears

walshb wrote: »

Well I finally got to watch the fight and I have to say, I was quite impressed with both Khan and Gomez and I saw a marked improvememt in Khan.
His defence was better, inside body work and outside body work was impressive. He was under serious pressure and fought brilliantly on the back foot, which is so so so so hard to do. He threw tons of shots and combos and was very accurate and his finishing was top class. Yes, he was knocked down; but if you look closely, you will see it was from both being slightly off balance as well as a flush shot. He bounced right back up and went to work.

This fight IMO showed a better Khan, stronger, faster, tougher and better conditioned even. He can and I hope will; only improve

Whether Khan was off-balance and whether he was knocked down or not the point is he was hurt by an arm punch from Gomez .

Gomez was a big hitter at Super-Featherweight but even Carl Johanneson who's proven that he can't take a punch at a higher level(and that's at Super-Featherweight) wasn't hurt that bad by Gomez . Gomez also badly hurt Khan to the body on one very noticeable occasion in the fight and at other times Khan seemed very uncomfortable when Gomez banged to the body .

Khan later admitted to having to 'pretend' to Gomez that he wasn't being hurt to the body when he was .

Limond as good a boxer as he is never hurt any decent opponent the way he did Khan .

The chin is becomming more and more of a question and it's very worrying this is happening at domestic level .

Are you not concerned he still comes in at straight lines and fights in an amateur style ?

I just don't see where they can go with Khan at the moment .
Romanov has vacated the European title so fighting for that won't be a certain loss for Khan now but he's still got to face the winner of Juan Carlos Diaz Merlero and Thaxton(Juan Melero will win) and although I'd just about fancy khan that's probably too big a risk in the eyes of Warren .

He can't fight for the British title as he was removed from the mandatory position for not wanting to face Thaxton so he'll have to wait a while before he can take on Meager or Murray . Meager he'd take easy , the same with the Murray of recent form, but if the old Murray shows up(an odd thing to say for such a young man) it could be a different story .

Other than that he can take the most likely option, marking time fights with the Commonwealth title as Warren tries to milk him for all he's work before risking him in a fight he could lose . Dave Stewart and Gavin Rees were the two names I say mentioned . A Stewart fight would be pointless, he's a non-puncher with a weak chin and the main thing going for him is his height(not much good against Khan) .

Rees while tiny at Lightweight despite grabbing a belt at the weight above , provides good workrate, no power, an okay chin and I suppose you could say he's a much lower level Juan Diaz . So there is some merit(just about) in a Rees fight but he doesn't really pose too much threat to Khan .

Proper Commonwealth title defenses leading towards a World title fight would be Edner Cherry, Michael Katsidis(okay he's tied up at the minute), Paulus Moses, Ray Narh and if he has Austrailian citizenship yet Ranee Ganoy .

walshb

Big Ears wrote: »

Whether Khan was off-balance and whether he was knocked down or not the point is he was hurt by an arm punch from Gomez .

Gomez was a big hitter at Super-Featherweight but even Carl Johanneson who's proven that he can't take a punch at a higher level(and that's at Super-Featherweight) wasn't hurt that bad by Gomez . Gomez also badly hurt Khan to the body on one very noticeable occasion in the fight and at other times Khan seemed very uncomfortable when Gomez banged to the body .

Khan later admitted to having to 'pretend' to Gomez that he wasn't being hurt to the body when he was .

Limond as good a boxer as he is never hurt any decent opponent the way he did Khan .

The chin is becomming more and more of a question and it's very worrying this is happening at domestic level .

Are you not concerned he still comes in at straight lines and fights in an amateur style ?

I just don't see where they can go with Khan at the moment .
Romanov has vacated the European title so fighting for that won't be a certain loss for Khan now but he's still got to face the winner of Juan Carlos Diaz Merlero and Thaxton(Juan Melero will win) and although I'd just about fancy khan that's probably too big a risk in the eyes of Warren .

He can't fight for the British title as he was removed from the mandatory position for not wanting to face Thaxton so he'll have to wait a while before he can take on Meager or Murray . Meager he'd take easy , the same with the Murray of recent form, but if the old Murray shows up(an odd thing to say for such a young man) it could be a different story .

Other than that he can take the most likely option, marking time fights with the Commonwealth title as Warren tries to milk him for all he's work before risking him in a fight he could lose . Dave Stewart and Gavin Rees were the two names I say mentioned . A Stewart fight would be pointless, he's a non-puncher with a weak chin and the main thing going for him is his height(not much good against Khan) .

Rees while tiny at Lightweight despite grabbing a belt at the weight above , provides good workrate, no power, an okay chin and I suppose you could say he's a much lower level Juan Diaz . So there is some merit(just about) in a Rees fight but he doesn't really pose too much threat to Khan .

Proper Commonwealth title defenses leading towards a World title fight would be Edner Cherry, Michael Katsidis(okay he's tied up at the minute), Paulus Moses, Ray Narh and if he has Austrailian citizenship yet Ranee Ganoy .

I really don't know what you are expecting here. Gomez fought a great fight and constantly pressured Khan, was very defensive and put on a great show. Okay, Gomez is not WORLD class, but he was a stiff test and Khan ruthlessly dispatched him in what I consider a fine performance. Khan was caught with a flush shot whilst off balance, he went down; but got straight back up and did a number on Gomez.

Gomez appeared to hurt Khan to the body?
Wow and big deal. This is pro boxing and from
time to time, fighters and great fighters can be hurt.
Khan is not superhuman, he's a man who ca be hurt.

His offense IMO has improved and his body work noticeably so.

He threw tons of shots that were quite accurate against a clever and
resourceful fighter with very good head movement.

He hurt Gomez numerous times and closed the show quite emphatically
in 5 rds. He is still 21. Man, I could go on, but I think at
this stage, Khan is doing very well. The most impressive part
of Khan's display was his fighting off the back foot. Ask any boxer, Paul for example, and he will tell you that to fight effectively off the back foot is
possibly the hardest part of boxing, yet Khan did it quite brilliantly.

I think you are being a little too hard and looking for some
kind of perfection that you will not find. We both
agree that his chin is sussy, but let's reserve judgment for the
time being until he does meet real quality

megadodge

Gomez also badly hurt Khan to the body on one very noticeable occasion in the fight

'Hurt' and 'badly hurt' are two different things.

I don't think Khan was badly hurt as witnessed by the way he continued to fight rather than running or holding.

walshb

I'm in complete agreement; sure Gomez landed some lovely body shots, but it's not like Khan was in serious trouble from them, he took them and fired back with real venom.