Freddie Roach, Amir "King" Khan Prove Dominance and Heart Against Marcos Maidana

Marcos Rene Maidana’s renowned power was not enough to claim victory over Amir “King” Khan on Saturday December 11, 2010 at Mandalay Bay Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The super lightweight title fight proved to be a real battle of hearts, with both Maidana and Khan hurt at some point in the fight. The fight started off with a bang for Amir, as he landed a thunderous left body shot, dropping Maidana to the canvas in an obvious agony. Marcos was able to get back to his feet and continue fighting.

Maidana recovered and began his own heavy assault on Khan. Maidana kept coming no matter what Amir was delivering in offense, and was landing his own uppercuts and body hooks.

Round 5 had a peculiar incidence, as Maidana might have thrown an incidental elbow after referee Joe Cortez broke them apart. That very same elbow just happened to land on Cortez, for which Joe instantly deducted a point. Amir’s hand speed and footwork proved to be in a whole different realm when comparing the fighters in the ring, as Amir was easily able to avoid most of Maidana’s shots.

In Round 10, Marcos caught Amir, sending his legs into a frenzy of uncoordinated and unbalanced movements. As the crowd rose to their feet, most expected Amir to go down, and possibly never recover. Again, Khan’s footwork allowed him to barely make it out of the round in one piece.

Rounds 11 and 12 were about even, as both fighters fought for breath and tried to get to the finish line without any more derailing on their side. Official scores were 114-111, 114-111, and 113-112, all for another one of Freddie Roach’s superstars, Amir “King” Khan. So who is next for Amir (24-1, 17 KOs) and Roach?

On the same night and in the same arena, Victor Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KOs) and Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs) gave it all for 10 grueling rounds, only to arrive to a majority draw. Ortiz kept to his usual self, being the clear aggressor, moving Lamont back throughout the fight.

Victor’s power was evident, but he was unable to put it to use due to Peterson’s outstanding boxing skills. Peterson maneuvered his upper body in the most impressive fashion, avoiding most of Ortiz’s shots and coming back with his own.

Lamont’s advantage was his speed and adaptability, as he was able to figure Victor out early on, and start delivering his own power shorts from a wide spectrum of angles. Scores were 94-94, 94-94 and 95-93 for Lamont Peterson.