Khan dominates Malignaggi to force late stoppage

From Ian McNeilly in New York: Amir Khan’s visit to America turned out pretty much as planned with an eleventh round stoppage of New York’s Paulie Malignaggi.

The 23-year-old from Bolton successfully defended his WBA light-welterweight title for the second time. The capacity crowd of around 4000 at Madison Square Garden Theater were mainly in favour of Malignaggi and anything else would have been surprising given that he is from Brooklyn. ‘Magic Man’ was received rapturously but once the boos had died down for Khan, his fans made themselves heard too, becoming progressively louder with their man's creeping dominance.

Khan looked pensive before the first bell yet came out firing several lightning quick jabs although they fell a little short. A right cross connected and whilst Malignaggi tried throughout the round, Khan was visibly quicker.

The champion was having success with hooks from both hands in the second and began to connect more regularly. A jab followed by a crisp combination from Khan preceded a warning issued by referee Steve Smoger to Malignaggi for rabbit punching. A left hook from Khan sealed a clear round.

Malignaggi tore out of the blocks to start the third, firing with jabs and also connected with a left hook off the back foot, provoking chants of ‘USA! USA!’. Khan remained focused but Malignaggi earned a share of the round – this was to be the high point of his success.

The fourth was a real battle of speed and the pair exchanged hooks but Khan took this session with some hard left hands. A left hook to the body hurt Malignaggi who then visited the canvas but the referee judged he ended up there because of a following push. It was at this point, perhaps in a bit of desperation to get the job finished, where Khan’s habit of leaping in after his punches started to become more evident. He looks ungainly at times but it was effective, tonight at least, but it’s something for him and trainer Freddie Roach to work on.

A couple of scuffles in the crowd at the start of the sixth round distracted many from some of Khan’s best work as he peppered Malignaggi with an impressive variety of punches, most notably a very solid overhand right. He was still chasing after his punches and continued to do so in the seventh but landed a splendid jab, sending back a spectacular plume of spray from the Brooklyn man’s head.

His jab was very dominant by the eighth and although Malignaggi had no answers to its comprehensive success, he tried manfully to counter off the back foot. During the interval before the ninth, the doctor was showing obvious concern about the challenger, repeatedly asking him if he was ok and following this with a whisper to referee Smoger. It also looked as if Malignaggi, to add to his woes, had damaged his fragile right hand as he didn’t throw it much for the remainder of the fight.

Khan’s industry and determination kept ticking over; Malignaggi dug deep to keep in the contest; he must have known the only victory he would achieve was to hear the final bell. Even this was out of his reach though.

Khan was jabbing his head off in the tenth and Malignaggi’s sporadic attacks had all but subsided. Officials obviously wanted to pull him out after this round but a combination of the home crowd booing loudly and the challenger literally begging to be allowed to continue, saw him sent out again for one last hurrah.

This lasted all of 1:25 as Khan forced Smoger to step in with Malignaggi trapped on the ropes, sent there by swarming combinations from the champion.

One very revealing punch stat – Khan landed more jabs (151) than Malignaggi did punches in the entire fight.

“Me and Freddie (Roach) stuck to the game plan, we had to break him down slowly,” said Khan at ringside after his win. “I knew in that last few rounds I was hurting him. I used my speed and my jab – I’ve got a great jab, everything was coming off the jab.”

Roach confirmed that this punch was what the pair had been working on and it was very much the key to victory.

“I know I can beat Maidana,” said Khan. “Tell him to get in the ring, I’d love to fight him next. It’s like a semi-final. Me v Maidana and Bradley v Alexander.”

A good night's work from Khan but he is still very far from the finished article - I suspect both he and Roach know this too.