Amir Khan Survives Late Maidana Surge for Unanimous Decision

Amir Khan’s (24-1, 17 KOs) second coming out party in the United States tittered on disaster for the last three rounds. His opponent, Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs), had him out of his feet in every single one of those rounds, and any second appeared just one shot away from getting a come from behind stoppage. The fight ending shot never came, and Amir Khan escaped with an exciting unanimous decision.

The fight nearly became an easy Khan victory, when he dropped Maidana in the first round with a perfect left hook to the liver. Maidana visibly cried out in pain and writhed on the mat. He beat the count, and luckily the shot came at the end of the round to a prevent a Khan follow-up. Khan showed the same fire going after Maidana in second round, strafing him with 4-5 punch combinations. Maidana, shocked by Khan’s aggressiveness, was cautious of being countered and did not press Khan. This left the slower Maidana an easy target.

The third round gave Maidana confidence when he landed his first solid punch, a right hand. Khan took it well, but also immediately backpedaled and held when Maidana got close. Khan got in a right uppercut, but Maidana was now pressing forward. He finally got inside and was able to snap Khan’s head back with short uppercuts. The relentless Argentinean was still being badly outlanded, but his confidence was growing.

Khan still controlled matters in the fifth behind flashy combos and movement. Maidana became too aggressive and lost a point for an errant elbow that caught referee Joe Cortez in the chest. Both men got reckless in the sixth, and that favored Maidana. Again, Maidana breached mid-range and was able to jar Khan with in-close uppercuts through his guard. Khan looked to be caught in the pressure of the U.S. lights, throwing his hands up like his sparring mate Manny Pacquiao, and goading Maidana into further attacks.

The seventh was an excellent Marcos Maidana round. He dropped his hands to taunt Khan, who now started to slow down after throwing so many combinations. Maidana caught him with two overhand rights and pinned him against the ropes. More damaging uppercuts followed. Khan got back to moving in rounds eight and nine, and was much better for it. He worked his own uppercuts to keep Maidana at bay, and the combination punching returned. Maidana couldn’t land clean, and Amir Khan seemed to be back in control heading into the important championship rounds.

Then it happened. Marcos Maidana buckled Amir Khan’s knees with a haymaker right hook. Khan was out of it, and nearly went down when Maidana crashed home another right. Khan went into complete flight, literally running away from Maidana in a vain attempt to clear his head.

Maidana went into predator mode. Smelling blood, he landed another flush right hand that had Khan stumbling all over the ring. He still wouldn’t fall, but the damage caused was enough to warrant a 10-8 round for Maidana without a knockdown.

Khan, still dazed in the 11^th, did not mount any offense until the last minute and a half. Maidana used that lull to bloody Khan’s nose with more right hands. He also prevented Khan’s attempt to steal the round by closing out with several good hooks to the body.

The 12^th started no better for Khan, and several ringside observers could be heard yelling “get out there” as the UK titlist lay on the inside and ate uppercuts. Maidana scored with a hard left hook, but got warned for several rabbit punches. Maidana carried the round despite Khan coming alive in the last 30 seconds with hard 1-2’s. They were solid, but not enough to overcome over two minutes of constant work and pressure from Maidana.

Marcos Maidana’s rally nearly got him a spectacular KO. But on the scorecards, it was not enough to overcome two 10-8 rounds and Khan’s early dominance. Khan won a unanimous decision by scores of 114-111 twice, and 113-112.

The performance nearly proved disastrous for Khan, but the WBA titlist was proud that Maidana, the hardest puncher of the division, could not KO him.

“I was hit by his best shots and I was still there,” Khan said.

Amir Khan’s performance will not change the minds of critics who believe him to possess a fragile chin. But his refusal to go down will no doubt earn him grudging respect for his toughness and fighting spirit. Trainer Freddie Roach’s task will now be to improve his fighter’s defense, particularly on the inside.

On the undercard, Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs) rallied from an early 10-7 round to earn a majority draw with Victor Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KOs).

Ortiz had Peterson in trouble in the third, when he scored two knockdowns. Peterson returned to the corner bleeding from his nose, but pounded his chest to let his corner know he wasn’t through. For the remaining seven rounds, Peterson was able to keep the bigger Ortiz off-balance with crisp 1-2s, and even at one point stunned Ortiz late. Neither man took completely over, but the Ortiz early knockdowns had many believing he did enough to take it. However, the judges favored Peterson’s boxing, and scored the fight 95-93 Peterson, and 94-94 twice for a majority draw.