Paul McCloskey will be Amir Khan’s next opponent on April 16. Already, Khan has been speaking on the inevitable unification showdown with WBO/WBC titlehodler Timothy Bradley, and even the remote chance of a lucrative bout with Floyd Mayweather. That leads those who’ve never heard of McCloskey to view him as nothing more than a stepping stone, a body simply there for Khan to look good against. Yet, that’s what most thought when Khan fought Breidis Prescott three years ago. In 2011, does McCloskey have the skills to pull a similar upset on an improved Amir Khan?
From the below YouTube highlight, McCloskey possesses a punch that may give him success in April, and that’s a sharp inside uppercut. He throws ala Naseem Hamed with full torque. In Khan’s last fight, Marcos Maidana was able to split his guard and hurtt him with in-close uppercuts.
The problem is if McCloskey will get close enough to land any. Also like Hamed, he likes to throw punches from the waist and relies on head and upper body movement to avoid shots. Unfortunately for McCloskey, he doesn’t have the cat-like reflexes of a Roy Jones or Ali to get away with that with someone a fast and talented as Khan. For what I’ve watched, I don’t see much possibility of an upset, but I do see McCloskey going down swinging.
UK readers, let me know if I’m missing anything about McCloskey’s game that can cause Khan trouble.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 