Khan running out of easy options

By William Mackay: With his win over a hand-picked Paul McCloskey last time out, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan has run out of soft opponents to fight and is looking at the unpleasant option of having to face quality guys moving forward. WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who punches with no more power than McCloskey, chose not to fight Khan next. This was a fight that Khan really wanted, and it’s not hard to see why.

Bradley doesn’t have size or power, and it’s a fight that Khan would have been able to finish on his feet and possibly win a close decision. But with Bradly off the table the options aren’t good for Khan, because the possible opponents for him are guys like Zab Judah and Roberto Guerrero, both of which would have an excellent chance of beating Khan and ruining his dreams for the time being of being a big star. Judah is dangerous because of his power, and Guerrero because of his excellent overall boxing skills. These are two guys that could very well beat Khan and send him back to square one with his career. Had Khan taken on a halfway decent fighter in his last bout instead of the little know weak punching McCloskey, Khan would likely get a pass if he fought a weaker fringe contender this time around. But he can’t do that now. Khan has to step it up and face someone good.
HBO probably won’t like it if Khan digs up another obscure fighter again to beat to pad his record and look good against. Khan didn’t even look good against the hand-picked McCloskey, and didn’t get the bounce that he probably thought he would get from a win over this guy. But that’s over with. Khan and his team now have to fight a solid choice unless they want to be grilled by the boxing public and risk becoming a laughing stock for choosing weak fighters. I have a feeling that Khan may not fight Judah or Guerrero, and could end up choosing the weak punching Erik Morales.
I hope I’m wrong but that’s who I see Khan facing next. Judah and Guerrero’s names have been mentioning but I see Morales being the one that Khan actually faces. This will be like Khan’s fight against the fading Marco Antonio Barrera where Khan can dominate with speed over an aging, smaller fighter without the size or the power at light welterweight to knock Khan out.