Amir Khan v Paul McCloskey - Manchester, April 16

I've been a huge fan of Khan since the olympics. I rate him as highly as nearly any fighter out there but i have to say i was not overly impressed by him on saturday night. Paul made him miss with a shocking amount of punches and even when he did land with one punch in a combo he missed with the others.

However....Paul threw nothing at khan, seriously, did he hit him with 4 punches in 5 and a half rounds? He caught khan with 2 nice shots in the 4th and thats all i really remember. If all you're doing is avoiding shots then its easy enough to keep doing it. Joe Bugner.........
I'd love to think Paul was going to start throwing leather but maybe he should have given an inkling that he actually intended to. If he went for a brawl with Khan it would have been a whole different fight, who knows how it would have gone.

The stoppage was a complete farce, probably the worst i've ever seen. He was in no trouble whatsoever and he should have at least been given a chance for the cornermen to have a go at it. It was aworld title shot ferfuksake. Khan did himself no favours talking down paul afterwards. He seemed bitter that he wasn't able to land cleanly on an opponent he rated so lowly.

I'd agree that the controversy has given Paul a better chance of getting another shot as he has shown he has good defensive skills but probably not enough front to hurt or trouble a good champ.

walshb wrote: »

He couldn't get in, couldn't get his shots off.

I think people are just ignoring this fact, deliberately or otherwise.

McCloskey had no clue how to get his shots off and that wasn't going to change for the simple reason being he doesn't have the ability. He showed no variation to suggest he was capable of a knockout either. The only punch i saw him throw with any real sting was the left hook and he threw it in isolation often leading with it and even then it hit Khans guard every time. His right hand was non existent in the fight.

I don't think people actually realise how few punches McCloskey threw or, better yet, hit Khan with. In rounds 1,2 and 4 he probably landed under 10 shots and none of them would hurt my mother. In round 3 i think he landed a decent uppercut but that was it. Thats all he had. If he'd spent a fraction of the time trying to hit Khan as he was trying to avoid punches maybe the ref would have given him a chance. As it is, going on what i saw he was either there for the payday or he lacked any real ability at this level. I read a quote after the fight 'In order to let out a cry of 'robbery' you have to have something worth stealing.'

CowboyTed wrote: »

The thing Paul was getting stronger and it was mentioned that Khan was blowing hard before the fight was called off.

I find it incredible that you actually think thats true. How was he 'getting stronger'? He should have been as strong in round 6 as he was when the bell rang in round 1 because he did **** all in between. Also, Khan fought Maidana 4 months ago (don't know if you're aware of that) in all out war. Incessantly pressured, taking huge shots he had the fitness to go out and win the 12th, in my book anyway. What the **** makes you think 6 rounds of posing would make him tired?

Terrible stoppage but as mentioned above Paul didn't know how to get his counters off. Khan was too fast, but displayed very little power in my opinion, just sprayed out weak combinations and got out.

CowboyTed wrote: »

I have agreed that Khan was not in much trouble but either was Paul. This fight was still there for the taking.. Both fighters especially Khan were expending a lot of energy.

I am saying nothing was certain for either side. Khan was the one said he would have Paul out early... Paul had already put that plan in the bin...

Paul was saying he was on his original plan. Khan was not.

Truth is Khan value was saved by that fight finishing early. He was looking bad. Paul was exposing him as a poor tactical fighter...

How? By losing every round?

Khan has lost once in his career and he's shared the ring with some pretty decent fighters. How then, can an inferior boxer expose him by losing every round? No offence buddy but you're talking bollox.

rocco. wrote: »

Dunne was behind on the scorecards against cordoba but eventuality knocked him out! Whats the point in having 12rounds with that atittude? Its a World Championship fight, a cut requiring two stitches should not stop it!
If Kahn had of been the one with the cut there is no way the fight would have stopped so pre maturely!

Dunne was well in that fight though. McCloskey couldn't even mount ONE offensive attack. In the words of Larry Merchant "Amir Khan was fighting an amoeba".
I think Khan is overrated but at the end of the day he did what he had to do, outbox mccloskey in EVERY round, which he did with relative ease.

I didnt think Paul was doing as bad as some on here thought (no shock to see Walshy having a dig at McCloskey, the man has issues!)

John Breen told me in the days before the fight that the gameplan was to weather the early storm and take more chances in the second half of the fight.

Could Paul have done that? Who knows, he didnt seem to be able to make Khan pay for his air shots. The sour thing about it is that we will never now know.

On the plus side. We had over 1000 people at the afterparty and it was great success.

The other plus was this -

john47832 wrote: »

^^^^

Dude on the left looks like hes getting married

I've already been through that pain two years ago hombre! :P

They aint happy in Derry.

Some turn out to be fair. All the controversy wont have done the lads profile any harm.

12gauge dave wrote: »

theres a few diferent arguments going on here and there is truth and valid reasonings in everyones points of views in my opinion!

1. i think we all agree the stoppage was shady in regards did paul want to quit? did he think his eye was worse than it was? why was the doc so quick into ring etc etc???

we dont know but we all agree i think that it was a poor way to end the fight!

2. we can argue that it didnt matter that the fight was stopped as khan was easily beating mcloskey?

true he was easily beating him on the point cards that was clear to see! but how can any of us be sure that mcloskey wasnt waiting till the last quarter of the fight to unload i agree its unlikely but its unfair to say mcloskey couldnt of won in the last few rounds he hadnt been on the ground or hurt prior to the stoppage

3. khan was tiring as rounds went on?

naturally that is what happens when u exert energy u do tire but khan didnt seem exhausted or anything? but i do remember anounncers saying that khan was tiring if my memory serves me right? he was throwing alot of flurrys and mcloskey wasnt letting any shots off maybe he was saving it for the later rounds who knows????

4. that khan is world elite class / deserves the praise and media attention hes getting?

its fair to say he has beaten a few very good fighters and has very fast hand speed and is on a great winning streak and is a great asset to english boxing! none of us know how far he will go before he is outclassed?? maybe he will never be outclassed??? who knows but i think it fair to say that he is a very good young prospect under very good trainer freddie roach and anything is possible but its also fair to make the comparison of englands last fan favourite ricky hatton and what hapened him when he went up to the top level so its easy to see why people wince at the media attention hes getting as he has yet to prove hes at world elite level but is getting the respect and praise of an elite world level fighter

fair post i think guys:)

1. Yeah it was a poor decision and i think in 49 pages of this thread no one yet has said it was the correct decision to stop it but that doesn't excuse all this 'cheated not defeated' nonsense. The rules are there and after 2 or 3 rounds of being outclassed he should have made some effort to get into the fight. He didn't and the ref probably thought easy decision. Man hurt accidentally, its been a non contest for 6 rounds anyway, lets stop the fight. I'm convinced that if Paul had made the effort and been competitive in the rounds the ref would have given him a chance. As it is HE made the fight a non event.

2. He could have won. Any boxer always has a punchers chance. We've all seen boxers you wouldn't give a prayer to land a lucky punch and win the fight but so what. Khan could turn the righteousness around and act upset that the referee has effectively killed his appeal in Britain. Its all idle speculation anyway. Again he had 6 rounds to get competitive and he failed. Thats fact. Saying he could of done this or he could of done that is just talk.

3. Khan upped the workrate in the 6th and just prior to the head clash he'd thrown a huge volume of punches (lots of which hit McCloskey). Naturally you breath when you let go of that many punches but it doesn't mean you're finished. You sprint 100M you're gonna be panting but it doesn't mean that after a minutes rest you're not ready to go again. Like i said Khan proved he's there for the long haul againt MM.

4. Look. Khan is internationally rated as the second best light welterweight behind Bradley. He's now beaten the fourth best (Maidana) and the 8th best (McCloskey) and he has the second highest KO percentage behind MM in the top 10. He's not a prospect ffs he's alive and kicking in the division and in July, if things go to plan for him, he'll unify the division and become the best light welterweight in the world. 'Elite level fighter'? Whats not elite about being the undisputed champion of the division? Side note: I think he's a good chance against Bradley.

And BTW Ricky Hatton was exposed by just 2 fighters and they've been exposing fighters for years. (De La Hoya lost to the same 2 men. Was he exposed at the 'Elite world level'?) In beating Castillo, Tszyu and the likes i think he was already fighting at the top level. It took balls to fight two fighters you know you're probably up **** creek against.