Love him or hate him, Amir Khan has piloted his destiny to the brink of glory as rumors and reports place him as the next opponent for Floyd Mayweather this May. As the biggest fight of Khan's career seemingly approaches, there is still one obstacle to climb before Mayweather can even be a reality and that will be this weekend against Lamont Peterson, a fighter who was at one time highly regarded as Khan was coming up, but setbacks in the form of a dominating loss to Timothy Bradley and a draw against Victor Ortiz left many to believe we've seen the best of him. Will Khan find himself one step away from the promised land? Or can Peterson take the last great step and place himself among the best of the sport?
Amir Khan, WBA and IBF Super Lightweight Champion
Age: 24
Height: 5'10"
Record: 26-1 (18 KO)
BoxRec Ranking: 2
Last Five Fights: 5-0 (3 KO)
Lamont Peterson
Age: 27
Height: 5'9"
Record: 29-1-1 (15 KO)
BoxRec Ranking: 3
Last Five Fights: 3-1-1 (3 KO)
Power: Khan
Speed: Khan
Technique: Peterson
X-Factor: Peterson (Shows more strength in closing rounds)
Though Peterson has had his share of setbacks, he showed a facet of his game that may trouble the champion in this fight and that is his conditioning and discipline to box, even in the face of an aggressive opponent. Bradley and Ortiz both knocked Peterson down, but they were unable to seriously hurt him and found themselves taking punishment as a result of their aggressiveness with accurate body shots and a stiff jab. Khan is devolving from a boxer-puncher to a typical "ambush" style fighter like fellow sparring-mate Manny Pacquiao. This works in Peterson's favor because Khan will need momentum to throw his barrage of punches and Peterson can control the pace with a jab and well-timed body shots.
Khan is a better body puncher than many give him credit for, and Peterson must avoid taking too many body shots to preserve his stamina heading into the late rounds while also using his jab and periodic clinches to slow Khan down. Peterson must make this into a boxing match, but at the same time can't keep fighting off his back foot. Counter jabs must be followed up with a left hook or a straight right hand. Hooks to the body should be doubled up and punches must come in bunches when it comes time to turn aggressor.
The benefit that Khan does have is that he's slightly taller, stronger, and has shown better hand speed and footwork than his more technically-tuned foe, and Peterson has been dropped by straight shots and looping shots respectively. Against Judah, whose defining characteristic outside of his lack of motivation was his speed, Khan was the faster fighter and reduced Judah to a lost soul who went into survival mode under the barrage of his shots. The only detriment is that for all his speed and movement, Khan is very easy to hit and that doesn't bode too well against an accurate fighter like Peterson.
Swarming Peterson early will be the best way to set the pace. Bradley and Ortiz dropped Peterson before the third round in their fights because Peterson started too tense and got caught by punches he wasn't prepared for. Instead of head-hunting, like Ortiz did, a knockdown should be followed up by body punches to sap a fighter who starts slow in order to furiously finish if need be. Khan cannot let Peterson slow the pace like he did against Paul McCloskey. It must be a high-speed game that will get Peterson thinking of how to stop what is coming without thinking about what is coming next.
When it comes down to it, Khan is stronger and faster than Peterson and while Peterson is the more fundamental fighter, Khan makes it up in explosiveness and talent and that will show when the fists fly. Peterson's passive approach at the beginning of the fight will become too passive, and after being knocked down once or twice, he'll make the adjustments he needed to make earlier as he finds himself hopelessly behind. Khan has proven that he can succeed in the higher level because of his reaction to adversity, but Peterson has yet to prove himself amongst the elite. Expect an ugly and uninspiring decision victory for Khan as he takes a step closer to a Mayweather fight, but leaves us all thinking if he'll stand any sort of chance.
Bonus Picks
Seth Mitchell is closer to a fight with a Klitschko than anyone believes and he'll be one step closer as he easily beats also-ran Timur Ibragimov. Also, in case anybody forgot, or dare to even care, Roy Jones Jr returns to the ring against a fighter more shot than he is as he stops Max Alexander amidst almost blood-curling cries for him to retire.
Potshot Picks is 31-9 (78%) Year To Date*
*Pending final ruling on Dawson TKO2 Hopkins 10/15
Danny Howard can be reached via e-mail (dhoward@fighthype.com), Twitter (@DBHoward126) and on Facebook.