Amir Khan Is a Legitimate Light Welterweight Contender

Amir Khan made his international debut on Saturday night amidst widespread reservations over his world class credentials. Since suffering his first ever loss to Colombian Bredis Prescott Khan has stepped up to face some serious opposition but the hugely experienced Paulie Malignaggi looked to be the single toughest test of his professional career.

It was a test Khan passed with flying colours and he had an unassailable lead on the scorecards by the time the fight was mercifully stopped in the penultimate round.

Malignaggi has faced a far better calibre of fighters than Khan. Fighters like Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Juan Diaz. Malignaggi beat Diaz comfortably in his two most recent fights even if he was only given the benefit of the judges decision on the second of the two meetings.

The only name of a similar stature on Khan's resume is Marco Antonio Barrera and that contest was effectively ended by an accidental head butt even if Khan was awarded the win.

While Malignaggi has been widely derided for his perceived lack of punching power this fight still represented the most severe examination of Khan's credentials to date. Malignaggi only ever loses to the very best and Khan can consider himself privileged to join the very elite group of fighters to have beaten him. The only other names on the list are currently Cotto, Hatton and Diaz.

It was a dominant if not eye catching performance from Khan. He had Malignaggi hurt on a number of occasions throughout the fight without ever coming close to knocking him down. Malignaggi was never an opponent who was likely to test Khan's supposedly fragile chin but he might have been expected to land at least an occasional punch.

Instead it was one way traffic as Khan, working behind his jab, kept Malignaggi quite literally at arms reach. When Malignaggi did get within range he was unable to land any significant punches and as soon as the two fighters separated normal service was resumed.

With this win Khan has established himself as one of the top five light welterweights in the world. Khan's training partner Manny Pacquiao is unlikely to ever participate in this particular division again so the number one fighter at the weight, should he choose to fight at it, would be Juan Manuel Marquez.

Khan would be well advised to avoid Marquez, who is one of the top five pound for pound fighters in the world but there are more pressing matters to attend to before a fight with the Mexican would become a realistic possibility. Marquez has a lightweight rematch with Juan Diaz and Khan has his eye on the other top ranked junior welterweights, Timothy Bradley, Graham Alexander, and Marcos Maidena.

Khan attracted criticism for failing to make a mandatory defence of his WBA title against Maidana preferring instead to face a hand picked opponent in Malignaggi. He appears anxious to make immediate amends by getting in the ring with the hard hitting Argentinian at the earliest available opportunity.

Speaking immediately after the fight Khan signalled his intention to fight Maidana,

'He's a great fighter but I know I can beat Maidana. I f he wants to fight me tell him to get in line, let's have it next. I'll fight Maidana and let Alexander face Bradley. It's like having a semi final and the winners can face off in the final.'

Bradley had originally been scheduled to face Maidana himself but the fight has been repeatedly postponed because Maidaina, who came back from three knock downs to defeat Victor Ortiz, has been suffering from an ongoing back problem.

Khan seems content to remain in the junior welterweight division for the forseeable future and shortly after comprehensively defeating Malignaggi he proclaimed that,

'I am making 140 lbs easy, I feel strong and I'm a big 140 lbs fighter. I'm not leaving 140 lbs until I unify the titles, I'm not leaving the division until I'm number one.'

The prospect of Alexander facing Bradley and Khan facing Maidana with the winners fighting one another is a distinct possibility. It would also do wonders for Khan's credibility if he stuck to facing highly ranked opponents from the same weight class.

A fight with Michael Katsidis, the tenacious Australian who recently stopped Khan's compatriot Kevin Mitchell, has been mentioned but Katsidis is a lightweight and Khan could leave himself open to criticism if he chose to compete against a smaller fighter at this stage in his career.

The Diaz and Marquez rematch might be scheduled to take place at lightweight but both these fighters can still be considered as part of the light welterweight equation. With Bradley, Alexander and Maidana already operating at this weight class it is starting to become one of the more competitive divisions in the world of boxing.

The British boxing public has a huge amount of belief in Khan but it was severely dented by the Prescott loss. He has gone a long way to repairing this damage with an emphatic win over Malignaggi and can return to his native England with his head held high.

Amir Khan is already among the very best of British boxers and a worthy successor to former junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton. He has a long way to go to establish himself as amongst the best in he world but this stoppage win against  Malignaggi demonstrates that he is definitely on the right track