Khan vs. Peterson: King Khan Will Outclass Havoc with Decisive TKO Victory

Amir Khan will defend his WBA (Super) and IBF Light Welterweight titles on Saturday night against Lamont Peterson in a clash at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. While the fight is an intriguing one, Khan will prove to be too much to handle.

Peterson is a native of Washington, so he will surely have the hometown crowd's support. He will need much more than that in order to upset Khan, however. Since a shocking 2008 loss to Breidis Prescott, in which he was knocked out in 54 seconds, Khan has established himself as one of boxing's brightest young stars.

Khan has piled up many impressive knock-out victories in recent fights, including wins over Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi. Peterson has been good in his own right, but over his past four bouts, he has a loss to Timothy Bradley, as well as a draw against Victor Ortiz.

There is no question that Khan has the momentum heading into this fight, and I think that will serve him very well. Both Khan and Peterson are very quick and decisive fighters, but Khan holds the advantage in terms of power.

It is true that Peterson has never been knocked out while Khan has been once, but Khan's loss to Prescott seems like it was more of a fluke than anything. Khan has clearly been much more focused since he was embarrassed in that fight, and there has been no question about who has been the better fighter in every match since.

Khan is continually and rapidly ascending in the light welterweight division, so he needs to continue to pick up statement victories. Peterson is a very solid fighter, so a win of any kind in this fight would be great for Khan. A knock-out win, however, would essentially solidify his place as a dominant force in the division.

Peterson will be energized with so many fans cheering him on, but Khan knows as well as anyone that the hometown pressure can sometimes have an adverse effect. That seemed to be the case when Khan lost to Prescott, and that could most definitely happen to Peterson as well.

I feel as though the longer this fight goes on, the more it favors Peterson, as he is masterful when it comes to winning fights on the scorecards. Khan has done plenty of that as well over the course of his career, but he is a more explosive fighter who is better in shorter spurts.

Khan is likely to come out firing against Peterson, and if he can weather the early storm, then I think he stands a much better chance. I think Khan is too determined and too focused to lose this fight, however, and he will put an exclamation point on it by knocking out Peterson.