WBA world light welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan pulverized Paul “The Magic Man” Malignaggi by an 11th round TKO Saturday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Khan (23-1, 17 KOs), a British citizen of Pakistani descent who became the youngest Englishman to win an Olympic medal when he captured a silver as a lightweight at the 2004 games in Greece, thoroughly dominated Malignaggi (27-4, 5 KOs) in his United States debut before referee Steve Smoger mercifully halted the bludgeoning.
“Me and (trainer) Freddie (Roach) stuck to the game plan. Paulie is a very awkward fighter. We had to break him down slowly,” said Khan, 23, the third youngest Brit to ever win a crown. “We had to use our brain. I knew in the last few rounds I was hurting him. All I had to do was put the pressure on him.”
Roach, a native of Dedham who has been voted Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America a record four-times, has clearly helped hone Khan’s prodigious skills since they began working together.
Malignaggi, an Italian-American from Brooklyn who is the former IBF junior welterweight champ, is absolutely a polarizing prizefighter and it is understandable that many fans consider him to be a scorching hemorrhoid.
Nevertheless, Malignaggi is a defensive wizard in the ring and he is a legitimate pugilist who possesses exceptional hand-speed and quick reflexes.
Hence, Khan’s utter domination of Malignaggi was extremely impressive.
“I ran into a clone of myself when I was younger. But he was faster and stronger,” said Malignaggi, 29, whose only three previous losses came at the respected hands of Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs), Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) and Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs). “He’s bigger and stronger. But I gave it all I had.”
Khan, whose record is only blemished by a first round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott (22-2, 20 KOs) in 2008, stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27 KOs) next and then scrap the victor of the Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KOs) versus Timothy Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs) bout.
Alexander is the current WBC and IBF light welterweight titlist and Bradley is the WBO world light welterweight champ.
“I’m not going to leave the 140 pound division until I unify the titles,” said Khan.
If Khan fights in the future like he did this past weekend, he will be the “King” of the 140 pound division much sooner than later.
Keywords: amir khan, boxing, paul malignaggi
