Khan and Maidana Talk Up The Upcoming Event Dubbed “Thunder and Lightning”

Added on Oct 11, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

WBA light welterweight boxing champion A

Last week WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan and interim champ Marcos Maidana, who are set to finally collide in December at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in the event being billed as Thunder and Lightning, took to the stage in Los Angeles to discuss their upcoming clash.

The two fighters have been running their mouths in regards to the potential matchup and last weeks press conference only fueled the fire that has been burning over the past year or so, but before the fighters took the dais, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer shared his thoughts on both Khan and Maidana.

“Amir Khan showed his tremendous skill and power…he made an amazing first impression here in the United States in May. With Amir’s size, his speed, his power…he really is the total package.

“We all know what happened when Maidana beat Victor Ortiz, one of the most exciting fighters in the sport. We know how hard Victor Ortiz hits…when he hits you, it’s lights out. Marcos Maidana went down three times but he got back up. Maidana can take a punch and he has the heart and the will to win and proved that against Ortiz,” Schaefer added.

Khan, who made the leap to the pro ranks the summer following the 2004 Beijing Olympics, was on the fast track to a major world title before running into the then unknown Colombian Bredis Prescott. In one of the biggest upsets of 2008, Prescott decked Khan twice in less than a minute leaving the British star unable to beat the count.

“Losing to Prescott made me realize how serious boxing is…I needed to train harder,” said Khan who is now trained by the world class corner man, Freddie Roach. He added, “When people say I have a weak chin, I respond by saying that Pacquiao gave me his best shot and couldn’t wobble me.”

While Maidana isn’t on the level of pound for pound great Manny Pacquiao, he holds world class power in both fists as he displayed in his 2009 clash with Golden Boy Promotions’ contender, Victor Ortiz.

While there was some buzz surrounding the Argentinian born fighter, his HBO televised win over Ortiz put the boxing world on notice that there was yet another terror in the deep 140 lbs. division.

“I felt Amir was scared of me because he wasn’t giving me the opportunity to fight him. It’s been almost a year and half since I won the interim title. I’m excited that we’re going to fight, says Maidana. “Khan has been talking a lot. On December 11 he’s going to have all the pressure on him.”

Fact of the matter is, both fighters have done there share in the pre-fight trash talk and it has without a doubt made this already intriguing match up that much more interesting. If the action inside the ring is anywhere near as entertaining as the action outside of it, which I no doubt believe it will, fans are in for a great fight.

“Knowing the styles of these two guys, you know it will be a fight you don’t want to miss. Whoever comes out the winner on December 11 is going to be a big star in the United States for a long time to come,” concluded Schaefer.