• Steve Bunce

Mature Khan to prove too clever for Judah

Expect Khan-Judah to be a tense affair © Getty Images

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Amir Khan is turning out to be better than any of us thought he would be back in 2008 - when he was knocked out in 70 seconds by Breidis Prescott. Since then he's drastically turned his life around with the help of first promoter Frank Warren and then trainer Freddie Roach. What he has done has been remarkable, unbelievable.

Forget the few rounds in his last fight against Paul McCloskey, that wasn't particularly good but that's what McCloskey does - he makes fights hard and ugly. However, Khan came through that but his clash against IBF light-welterweight champion Zab Judah on Saturday night is a real fight.

It would not surprise me if Judah used his head or elbows at the start of the fight. Khan could panic, he could get cut. For Judah to do that, Khan's got to be close to him and slow enough in his reactions. I don't think he is, I think Khan is that much faster. And he's clever; he's not the kid anymore. The Athens Olympics were in 2004, we're in 2011. He's not a boy anymore, he's mature - any innocence he had it went down the drain when he was on the canvas at the MEN Arena courtesy of Prescott's fist three years ago. I think Khan will win but it will be an incredibly hard, tight fight. Even if Khan stops him I think it will be tight.

A super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr has been mooted and it could happen next year. Victor Ortiz is fighting Floyd in September - Khan is better than Ortiz. Is he good enough to beat Mayweather? Well so far nobody has been. Does he deserve a shot at the unbeaten American? If he ends up beating Judah and then has one or two more fights then of course he does. Will he beat Mayweather? Who knows what will be left of Floyd by November 2012? We're talking about fantasy matches and long term planning in boxing. These mega fights are easy to talk about but harder to put into practice.

And let's not rule out Khan fighting stablemate Manny Pacquiao. Richard Schaefer, the boss of Golden Boy Promotions, is saying never say never. He's absolutely right. Who knows what could happen? Manny could move away from Freddie, Freddie could move away from Khan. You don't know. We're talking about the fight in late 2012, that's one or two fights and 18 months away. Will it happen next month? No. Could it happen in September 2011? No. But it could happen further down the line, stranger things have happened.

Time to let the fists do the talking

My gut feeling is that Dereck Chisora, who faded in his last fight against Sam Sexton before rallying to win in the ninth, will run out of steam in the later rounds and lose his British and Commonwealth titles. Tyson Fury has been ten rounds, and I just have a feeling that Fury might have done more work going into the final few rounds.

The build-up to the fight has been marred by stupid comments from both fighters. Fury went too far when he threatened to 'kill' Chisora and he has since apologised. In these post-David Haye days I don't think there's any need whatsoever to use expressions like 'kill'. There's a total absence of respect being thrown around by both of these 14-bout novices - they've done nothing to deserve the right to call people some of the names they've called them and each other. They've both been blowing after seven or eight rounds in fights and it's absurd what they've been saying. This fight is fantastic, it sells itself but it doesn't need any of this nonsense. They'll look back on it and cringe, because I know I've been cringing. Haye's defeat to Wladimir Klitschko at the beginning of the month was a bad result. It was bad for Haye, bad for British boxing and a dreadful result for sports fans. It wasn't helped by the rhetoric in the build-up to the fight but Haye is an established name, he's the guy that's famous for getting in people's faces.

The British public don't want to hear a British heavyweight talking about death and killing. They'd love to see two rivals shake hands, pose for pictures, smile and say, 'may the best man win'. A bit like the old Henry Cooper stuff - I'm convinced that a dose of the old school is what's needed and not a dose of the new school. They're not X-rated rappers! It doesn't add up and it's stupid.

Kevin Mitchell's career is back on track after he took John Murray out © Getty Images

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One of the Klitschkos lies in wait and it's a fight that looks done and dusted. Big Wlad and Vitali flew into town and, with Chisora and Fury both talking really nicely about the Klitschkos, I think it's a done deal. And why not - they're too inexperienced to beat a Klitschko but they deserve it more than some of the other fighters that might end up on the Ukrainians' list.

Mitchell a man reborn

Kevin Mitchell's redemption in the ring against John Murray was quite extraordinary. Here's a kid who was not only down and out in May 2010 but his life has spiralled out of control. Let's not gloss over the facts. He's got a massive drugs charge hanging over his head - he insists he's innocent but that doesn't matter, the charge is still there. He's admitted to spending £100,000 on booze, his trainers are on record late last year and early this year talking about how they're not sure if he's properly focused. But he got in that ring in Liverpool at the weekend and produced a masterclass, it was brilliant. The man he most surprised was Murray, who thought he could just walk forward for five or six rounds and Kevin would fold. That was quality, a fantastic win.

Murray can come back, he simply got his tactics wrong. He realised after two or three rounds he got them wrong but by then Mitchell's punches - his uppercuts, his short left hooks, his quick right hand - had started to deform Murray's face and he was being picked apart. He is a smarter fighter than that, he'll get his head together and come back stronger. Don't be surprised if they have a rematch.

For Mitchell, the newly-crowned WBO inter-continental lightweight champion, a second crack at Michael Katsidis looks on the cards. He fought like a fool in his only defeat as a pro to date, fought like a headless chicken. He made Katsidis look like one of the greatest fighters in history, he's not. He's just one of the best fighters in Australia's boxing history.

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