Amir Khan is in a city where it is very hard to get any kind of a decision. Some would say it’s impossible. Washington D.C. is only a fight town if you’re a Republican, or a Democrat, or Barack Obama.
That said, I’m thinking Khan will get what no American politician can, even those who were anointed to sit on some budget committee that was called super. Or was that stupor? It’s a risk, of course. Allowing the junior-welterweight fight to go to the scorecards Saturday night for a decision in Lamont Peterson’s hometown is the kind of gamble that could go terribly wrong.
But there’s much to admire in Khan’s bold willingness to take on risk and then manage its dangerous dynamics. His desperate stand in the 10th round of a vicious assault from Marcos Maidana a year ago in Las Vegas is a sure sign that he knows how to prevail. It’s instinctive. It had to be then, because instinct was all he had after Maidana’s punches nearly separated him from consciousness.
Bernard Hopkins, in his role as a Golden Boy Promotions vice president, has warned Khan he has to pursue a stoppage. Khan will, of course. That almost goes without saying. But Peterson is nothing if not a survivor. He learned the survival arts on D.C. streets where he grew up with his brother, homeless without a dad and seemingly without a chance. Peterson has survived before at home. It’s hard to believe he won’t survive 12 rounds this time.
But Peterson’s inexhaustible resiliency and hometown support don’t figure to score enough points against the emerging collection of speed, skill and smarts possessed by Khan, who at 25 appears to be nearing his prime.
“I can’t afford to lose and get beat,’’ Khan has said in conference calls and at news conferences. “It’s going to take me from being a good fighter to be being a superstar. Hopefully, Lamont Peterson will make me one of the best fighters in the world.’’
Khan might still be a Tim Bradley and another weight class, welter, from super-stardom. But the stakes are as high as the risk in what could be his most dangerous fight since Maidana.
In an unexpected twist, Khan trainer Freddie Roach got an object lesson, up close and personal, in the danger posed by Peterson. Roach, an advisor to America’s 2012 Olympic team, was with Peterson, who sparred as designated training partners for the Olympic boxers.
For two rounds, Roach held mitts that Peterson pounded with punches that revealed their power. If there’s a weakness in Khan, it is a fragile chin. Despite his desperate stand in the victory over Maidana, it’s been there ever since Breidis Prescott stopped him in the first round of a stunner.
Since then, Khan has learned to employ his evident quickness and long jab to stay away from the inside brawling that opponents are sure to employ in an attempt to test that chin.
Intrigue rests in how Khan uses and mixes the elements in his versatile array of skill. The guess here is that he will have to do exactly that and perhaps more in a story on scorecards that will say a lot about him.
QUOTES, ANECDOTES
Congratulations to the 2012 Hall of Fame class of Thomas Hearns, Mark Johnson, Freddie Roach, Al Bernstein and especially retired boxing writer Michael Katz, whose words from ringside always said it better than anyone.
Life imitates art: Max Kellerman and Larry Merchant will do in fact for the HBO telecast of Khan-Peterson what they did in film a few years ago as a fictional broadcast team in the Rocky Balboa movie.
Lieutenant Colonel Manny Pacquiao has rank enough to command a Filipino battalion, yet still has no command of what Juan Manuel Marquez does to him.
AZ NOTES
Hall of Fame junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal of Phoenix applauds Johnson for getting into the Hall.
“I’m happy for him,’’ Carbajal said.
Johnson, of Washington D.C., and Carbajal were once mentioned as potential opponents.
“I would have fought him, but I lost to Jake Matlala,’’ said Carbajal, who lost a ninth-round stoppage to the South African in 1997. “If I’d beaten Matlala, that was the plan. We were talking about Mark Johnson. But I got beat.
“Johnson was a great boxer, really quick. But I would have put the pressure on and kept that pressure on him.’’
