Manny Pacquiao or Kell Brook next for Amir Khan after Samuel Vargas victory
Pakistan-British boxer Amir Khan crushed Colombian opponent Samuel Vargas, succeeding in his quest to win the welterweight world title at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England.
Pakistan-British light welterweight champion Amir Khan (33-4, 20 KOs) kept his career alive just barely in defeating fringe contender Samuel Vargas (29-4, 14 KOs) by an unimpressive 12 round unanimous decision at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England. The judges scored it 119-108, 119-109, and 118-110.
Khan knocked Vargas, 29, twice in the fight in dropping him in round 2 and 3. Vargas shockingly dropped Khan in the 2nd round, and had him out on his feet at the end of the 10th round. Khan was incredibly lucky to survive the 10th. Had there been a little more time in the round, he would have been finished off for sure by Vargas.
Khan was given credit for a rabbit punch knockdown in round 3. The referee Terry O’Connor let Khan get away with the rabbit punch knockdown for some reason. I guess O’Connor was looking the other way and failed to see a blatant rabbit shot. With the way the judges scored the fight, it didn’t matter. Khan would have won the fight anyway even if O’Connor had done his job correctly and waived off the rabbit shot KD in the 3rd.
Khan fought well in round five in landing a lot of shots to the head of Vargas, who suffered a nose injury. Vargas took Khan’s bombardment in the round and showed a lot of heart in doing so.
The expenditure of energy seemed to wear Khan out by the 7th round, as he started to look arm weary, and a lot of the power on his shots dropped off. Vargas’ body shots helped wear Khan out though, as he was hitting him frequently.
After the fight, Khan called out World Boxing Association ‘regular’ welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. In what has to be seen as a huge disappointment to Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Eddie Hearn, Khan didn’t call out Kell Brook.
”I will beat Manny Pacquiao and Kell Brook,” Khan said to Sky Sports after his win over Vargas. ”Who do you want me to fight next? Manny Pacquiao or Kell Brook” Khan asked the crowd at ringside. ”There is a massive demand for me but there is only one fighter over Kell Brook and that is Manny Pacquiao. I want Manny Pacquiao first! If it’s not Pacquiao, we go back to the drawing board and then look at Brook,” Khan said!!!.
Privately Khan wants to fight the Filipino idol Manny Pacquiao, but the 31-year-old looked ordinary here against an opponent in Vargas he was expected to beat.
The hand speed was there, the fitness was there, but this was not meant to be a dog fight for the British sporting hero.
There was clearly ring rust, the right shapes looked limited, and it begs the question of what Khan really does have left after a career in which he has had many tough fights, has earned fame and a £30 million pound, yet has not imprinted his fast hands on the sport as he might have wanted to at the start of that paid career.
This was no easy night, and it leaves question marks over just how much being horribly knocked out by Saul Canelo Alvarez took out of his body and synapses at middleweight two-and-a-half years ago.
However, the Khan bandwagon will march on. He's just too big a star to walk away.
Other boxing results on the Khan vs. Vargas card:
- Hassan Mwakinyo stops Sam Eggington in round 2
- Jason Welborn defeats Tommy Langford by 12 round split decision
- Lewis Ritson beats Oscar Amador by 3rd round TKO
