???? Very close fight. Arturo gets hit too easy, but Khan has like, well, zero chin. Can Arturo close the gap and get close and land before Khan slices him into ribbons?
As shitty as Gatti was, he has a REAL chance here. He could easily level Khan with a hook. But as Ike said, Gatti lost to worse fighters than Khan. Gatti simply could NOT handle speed worth a shit. Khan probably survives some very scary moments, and outpoints Gatti.
Gatti was a decent puncher though. If he landed the same hook Garcia did, Khan is not getting up. Garcia is not a puncher. He also isn't quick handed. Gatti just gets hit to much. Would have been an ok fight to watch.
Khan's best shot is a cut/swelling related stoppage. I would worry about Khan's left to the guts too, an underrated shot. But Arturo had a mean left too. Cracking encounter feel.
I think it'd be a similar fight to Khan-Maidana. Both guys are HORRIBLY flawed, and both HBO hype creations. But at the same time, both are fun to watch because they are so flawed.
I don't think Gatti was quite-so-hyped, I think he really was entertaining and good value for money, and the Ward-Tril was great stuff. But I agree on the flaws. Poor Arturo thinks D was the 4th letter of the alphabet, and thats all it was.
Khan really would be shit in any other era. Put him at 140 in the late 80s early 90s. Its already a given that he gets fucked up by Chavez, Taylor, and Randall. Guys like Haugen, and Paz would have owned him as well. Uncle Roger would have knocked him dead at some point. Camacho Sr would have outboxed him with ease.
Yep, Khan is a hype job, yet, ironically, if he stayed amateur, won Gold in China and Gold in London, and then won a belt as a pro and retired after 15 fights or something, we would hail him as a great fighter. I think he truly could have been an ATG amateur, as could Bernard Dunne.
Khan wouldn't have beaten the Judah of 10 years ago. Zab at this point is still fast enough to beat a bum like Vernon Paris or Santa Cruz, but not a top fighter. But Zab in his 20's had faster hands than Khan, and would have punched between his flurries and taken him out. I mean, even the Zab that troubled Floyd early on. No way Khan survives the early rounds against that Zab.
Yep as I said in the main thread, Khan is a BIG time overachiever. He wouldn't have been considered a top fighter in any recent era. I also agree the Zab from the Floyd fight destroys Khan.
This fight would be guaranteed fun... Khan has fast hands and a little dig, Gatti is susceptible to fast hands and got wobbled and hurt by practically every guy he ever faced. On the flip-side, Khan has an even worse chin and his defensive mistakes leave him open to a guy with even a little bit of technical know-how and gumption, which Gatti had. I guarantee you, both guys would be badly hurt and both would likely hit the deck. However, I believe more in Gatti's ability to pull the iron out of the fire in that condition than I do in Khan's ability (note that I didn't say effort, Khan has shown he will make the effort) to do so. In the end, that could be the difference. Yes, Gatti has lost to or had tremendous difficulty with lesser fighters than Khan, but Khan's chin (or lack thereof) is "special" in a way that maybe it wasn't for some of those guys (Ivan Robinson, while certainly less physically talented and more feather-fisted than Amir, had better defense and technique than Amir and his chin was basically average as opposed to a serious liability) ... I think in the end, Gatti probably gets him 7 times out of 10
