Live Blog: Amir Khan vs Andriy Kotelnik

Welcome to The Boxing Bulletin's live blog coverage of the junior-welterweight clash between Amir Khan and Andriy Kotelnik.

Updates will start from the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester with the first televised under-card bout at 4 PM EST (9 PM GMT).

If you've been with us before for a live blog, welcome back. If this is your first time, thanks for checking us out. Feel free to participate by giving your scores and comments.

Coverage starts at 4 PM EST (9 PM GMT) Amir Khan 139.6 lbs (20-1) vs Andriy Kotelnik 140.0 lbs (32-2-1) - 12 rounds Sky is listing the under-card as Matthew Hall vs Anthony Small, along with the 3 Olympians, James DeGale, Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders. Hopefully we'll get to see at least some of Kell Brook vs Michael Lomax and Enzo Maccarinelli vs Denis Lebedev. If you are here early, check out our recent stories including a preview of tonight's show: Amir Khan vs Andriy Kotelnik Preview... by Dave Oakes For fans of boxing history, check out Carlos Acevedo's story on Max Baer's 1937 bout with British Empire champion Ben Foord at the Harringay Arena in London - Dark Mirror: When Max Baer met Ben Foord We've also got a preview on the other UK show happening tonight: Cleverly vs McIntosh Preview... by Matt Chudley Plus Lee Patyon's thoughts on some up the upcoming big fights happening in the next few months: Vitali Klitschko vs David Haye, Floyd Mayweather vs Juan Manuel Marquez, etc...

Refresh this page often as updates will be frequent 19.45 We're now less than 90 minutes away from the start of our live blog. Let's hope we're in for a great night of boxing. 20.30 Thirty minutes to go. It's time to get the snacks and drinks ready! 21.05 Sky's coverage has just begun. We've got Johnny Nelson, Glenn McCrory and Nicky Piper joining Dave Clark. 21.08 Jimmy Lennon is our MC tonight. He's just begun the intros for Hall v Small. 21.10 Small is wearing a suit for his ring entrance and is looking very confident as usual. 21.12 Hall is now on the way to the ring. 21.15 The introductions are complete and the first fight of the night is about to begin. 21.18 The first round is over with very little action in it. Small looks scared to death whenever Hall gets close and seems to be more interested in clinching than fighting. Small recieved a warning from the referee late in the round for taking to Hall when in the clinches. Hall's round 10-9. 21.22 Small starts this round better and is landing some accurate punches. Hall responds with a hefty left hook to the body. Small lands a nice uppercut midway through the round but Hall comes back with another good body shot. A much more entertaining round with Small landing the better punches. Small takes the round. It's 19-19 on my scorecard. 21.26 Small is frustrating Hall with some slick movement and switch-hitting. Hall is not backing down and continues to chase Small around the ring. Small is still clinching on the inside a lot and has recieved another warning from the ref. Even round. 29-29 21.30 Small lands a fast left hook at the start of the round. Hall has a small cut by his left eye, it looked like a left hook caused the cut. The round was very similar to the last but Hall did a bit more work to take the round. 39-38 Hall. 21.34 The fight seems to have settled into a pattern of Small hitting and moving and Hall chasing him down. The referee has warned both fighters during the round about clinching close up but in truth, it's mainly Small doing the clinching. Small has landed a couple of flashy shots in this round whilst Hall is srtuggling to land clean. Small edges the round. 48-48. 21.38 Nothing much is happening in the first half of the round. Small seems happier dancing and clinching than he is fighting. Small has a storming last minute to the round, catching Hall clean with some nice uppercuts and flashy combinations. Hall is running out of ideas. Smalls round. 58-57 Small. 21.42 A clash of heads early on has left Hall with a bad cut above his right eye. Hall is trying desperately to land a big shot but Small is countering him and catching him clean with some hard punches. A right hook by Small seems to have an effect on Hall but he responds yet again. This is Small's best round of the fight, he's starting to tee off on Hall, who seems unable to avoid the slashing punches. 68-66 Small. Hall's cut looks a bad one. Blood is streaming down his face. 21.46 Small is really turning up the pace now. He's landing to head and body with real venom. Hall is taking punches clean and is starting to unravel. Small has got him going, a big right hook has hurt Hall badly, Small jumps on him and is landing with every punch he's throwing. Hall is going to get knocked out here. Hall's been stopped just before he was about to hit the canvas. What a stoppage by Small, he started cautiously but turned up the pace the longer the fight went on. A great performance by Small. Next up is Olympic hero Billy-Joe Saunders, who for me, is the Olympian who has made the best adjustment from the amateurs to the pro ranks. Saunders is making his way to the ring. He's getting a big intro, there must be a lot of pressure for such a young fighter with so much attention on him. His opponent is Matt Scriven, who's a decent pro but nothing special. Hopefully he'll take Saunders a few rounds. 22.04 Scriven lands a nice right hook at the start of the round but Saunders takes it well. Saunders is the aggressor and has bloodied Scriven's nose with a stiff jab thrown from his southpaw stance. Saunders is looking impressive, he's bullying Scriven and is really rattling punches into Scriven's ribs. Saunders takes the round in very impressive fashion. 10-9 Saunders. 22.08 The start of the round is delayed a few seconds due to Scriven forgetting to put his gumshield in. Saunders is taking his time a bit more in this round but is still hammering away at Scriven. He's got Scriven trapped in the corner and is landing some classy hooks to head and body. The referee has stopped it, Scriven wasn't hurt but he was taking far too many punches and wasn't throwing anything back. Saunders remains unbeaten and looks like he's going to provide us with some exciting fights over the next few years. Next up is another Olympian, Frankie Gavin. Gavin is the only Brit to ever win the World Amateur Championship. 22.17 Gavin is in the ring, as is Graham Fearn his opponent. 22.23 Gavin is taking a look at Fearns early on, he's picking his punches well and has landed two well timed left uppercuts and a perfectly picked right hook. Fearns caught Gavin with a decent hook towards the end of the round but Gavin seemed unbothered by it. Gavin's round 10-9. 22.27 Gavin's working well behind a stiff looking jab. Gavin lands a hefty bodyshot that sends Fearns dipping to the canvas, all credit to Fearns who has picked himself up with the count at 7. Gavin's looking for the stoppage, he's putting together some lovely combinations. A right hook, straight left combo sends Fearns to the canvas yet again. Fearns gets to his feet but the fight is waved off. Olympic gold medalist James DeGale is the next man in the ring. It'll be interesting to see what kind of reception he'll get from the fans. He's been a target for the boo boys so far in his career. DeGale is making his way to the ring. Thankfully there aren't that many people booing tonight. Jimmy Lennon is introducing De Gale and his opponent, Ciaran Healy. 22.42 DeGale is looking to land hard punches straight from the bell. He's already landed some hard hooks and looks like he's hurt Healy numerous times in this first session, Healy is looking like he's not enjoying this one bit. DeGale lands two heavy body shots and Healy is down. He's up but isn't going to last long, and he hasn't, DeGale has caught him to the body again and Healy is going down again as the bell rings. The corner have thrown the towel, the fight's over. DeGale is starting to adapt to the pro game and is putting a lot more power into his punches than he was in the amateurs. Healy was never going to provide him with a tough test but DeGale did what he had to by stopping him in the first round. The main event is next. This is make or break time for Khan. Sky have just interviewed Naseem Hamed, he's picking Khan to win. Khan is making his way to the ring. He's getting a huge reception from the 20,000 fans packed into the M.E.N Arena. Kotelnik is now making his way to the ring. He's getting booed but the few proper boxing fans in attendance are applauding him. Khan starts as the 1/4 favourite. I think he'll win but I wouldn't put a penny on him at those odds. The introductions are over, the fight is about to begin. 23.07 The bell sounds for the first round and starts with a quick jab followed by a straight right. He's using his jab well and isn't rushing in, he's also keeping his hands up better than he has in the past, he still looks open at times though. A good first round for Khan, he's boxing in and out of range well and took that round easily. 10-9 Khan. Freddie Roach warns Khan about leading with the right. 23.11 Kotelnik is struggling to match Khan's hand speed. Khan's moving well and is boxing very well so far. Kotelnik lands a good straight right with a minute of the round remaining, Khan took it well but wouldn't be advised to take many more like it. Khan is still in charge and takes the round. 20-18 Khan. 23.15 Kotelnik lands a good body shot at the start of the round that had Khan looking disorganized. Khan responds well though and is using his jab masterfully. Khan is boxing well but Kotelnik is looking dangerous. Kotelnik is being the aggressor in the fight with Khan moving around the edge of the ring picking his punches. A close round but I think Khan edged it. 30-27 Khan. 23.19 Khan lands a good left to the body early on but Kotelnik trhows back immediately. Both fighters are looking to land to the body. Kotelnik is blocking most of Khan's punches in this round but isn't landing that many of his own. Another close round but I think Kotelnik just edged it. 39-37 Khan. 23.24 Khan starts with two left hooks to the body again, the ref tells him to keep his punches up. A right hand from Kotelnik lands flush and has an effect on Khan, to his credit, Khan comes back well and lands some sharp punches himself. Khan lands a nice three punch combination towards the end of the round. Despite Kotelnik landing a big punch earlier in the round, he didn't do enough after that and allowed himself to get outworked by Khan. 49-46 Khan. 23.28 Kotelnik is throwing some desperate looking punches at the start of the round, I think he's becoming frustrated at not being able to pin Khan down. Khan's jab is still his best punch and he's followed it up twice with fast left hooks that landed flush. Kotelnik lands a nice right hook towards the end of the round but Khan answered it with two stinging hooks of his own. Khan is outworking Kotelnik and takes the round. 59-55 Khan. 23.32 Kotelnik is trying desperately to pin Khan down and land a big shot but Khan is boxing exceptionally. He still needs to keep his gloves up, you always get the feeling Khan's defence could let him down at any minute. Khan's defence has been very good tonight though. Khan's speed is still giving Kotelnik trouble, Khan is having great success with straight punches and is landing the heavier looking shots. 69-64 Khan. Freddie Roach tells Khan to stay focused and keep his chin down. 23.36 Kotelnik looks like he's slowing down a touch and is throwing desperate looking punches again. Kotelnik lands a nice left hook to head and body combo but it doesn't have any effect on Khan, Kotelnik follows up seconds later with a good right hand. Khan's not landing that much in this round but he's avoiding most of Kotelnik's big punches. He bobbed and weaved out of the way of a combination beautifully towards the end of the round. Kotelnik slightly edged the round though. 78-74 Khan. 23.40 Khan lands a nice body punch at the start of the round before moving out of the way of Kotelnik's attempted reply. Kotelnik lands two left hooks clean on the chin midway though the round but Khna takes them well again. Khan's jab is still working well and he's still landing more punches than Kotelnik. Khan's stamina is holding up well but he's still got be very careful defensively. Kotelnik caught him with a few hard punches in that round but Khan still won the round on workrate. 88-83 Khan. 23.44 Khan's fast straight punches are working well for him again. Kotelnik is giving it everything but just can't find that jackpot punch he needs. Khan's landing with fast punches that Kotelnik can't block. It must be really disheartening for Kotelnik, everytime he lands a good punch Khan comes back with three or four. 98-92 Khan. 23.48 It's another fast starrt by Khan but he has to take a clubbing right hand before coming back with his own punches yet again. Khan throws a blistering five punch combination halfway through the round but Kotelnik comes back with two hefty looking hooks that land high on Khan's temple. Khan's getting involved a bit too much in this round but is holding his own when trading punches. Kotelnik just edged the round for me. 107-103. Roach is telling Khan to be careful and stay focused. He's three minutes away from being world champion. 23.52Kotelnik lands a big right at the start of the round, Khan's got to be very careful here. Kotelnik is really pouring the pressure on. A huge right whistles past Khan's chin as Khan pulled back from a punch with his hands down. Khan's trading instead of moving but is still holding his own. 10 seconds to go, the bell rings. Khan's definately become world champion. I gave the last round to Kotelnik but Khan takes the fight 116-112 on my card. I've got a feeling the judges scorecards will be a touch wider than mine. The rounds I scored for Kotelnik were very close rounds. The judges scorecards read: 120-108 and 118-111 twice in favour of the winner and the new WBA champion of the world... Amir Khan. I've got to say that the score of 120-108 is very harsh on Kotelnik. To not give him a round is scandalous. There was no doubting who the winner was though, it'll be interesting to see whether Khan stays at light-welterweight or drops back down a division. Based on this performance I think he should stay at this weight, he looks very comfortable there. That concludes tonight's blog. Thanks to everyone who was reading.

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Amir Khan vs Andriy Kotelnik Predictions

Making his first start at 140lbs, Amir Khan headlines tomorrow night's Sky Box Office show at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester against veteran junior-welterweight Andriy Kotelnik. Can Khan build on the performance he gave last time out against Marco Antonio Barrera, or is the German based Urkanian fighter too big of a test for the youngster's questionable durability?

The Boxing Bulletin writer's give their thoughts after the jump...

Check back with us at 4PM EST (9 PM GMT) Saturday for our live blog coverage of this event.

Khan's talented, until he proves he can take a punch though, I'm picking him to be stopped by any good fighter around his size. No, Kotelnik's not a banger. But his punches are short and accurate, which I feel will be more than enough to hurt and ultimately stop Amir. If one needs to be reminded how easily Khan can be hurt, they can just review the Prescott fight and see how he got rocked by the first jab that landed. The same Prescott that couldn't hurt Humberto Toledo. Kotelnik by knockout. - Michael Nelson

I agree with Michael, Amir doesn't have the defense or the mentality to stink it out and Kotelnek has a granite chin. I think Khan will have a lot of success in the first two rds and then get ground down. Kotelnek by late stoppage. -Mark Lyons

I'm taking Khan to move a lot and land a little on his way to a boring UD. I don't think he'll let Kotelnik get close enough to land much. - Lee Payton

I think Khan will be too quick for Kotelnik to cope with. Freddie Roach's gameplan will be for Khan to be in and out of range before Kotelnik has a chance to catch him with anything substantial. Kotelnik is a good all-rounder but I can see him struggling to get into this fight early on, his best chance may come in the latter stages of the fight depending on how Khan's stamina holds up in his first major fight. I'm picking Khan by UD with all three cards around the 118-110 mark. - Dave Oakes Check out Dave's preview: Khan vs Kotelnik

It's a tough fight to call. Khan's overall skills are clearly superior, and he's got the hand and foot speed to beat Kotelnik to the punch while getting out of harm's way quickly. But Kotelnik throws straight accurate shots and unless Khan fights the perfect fight, you have to feel he's going to get hit clean a bit... and what happens when he does? If I was a gambler, I think I'd sit this one out. - Andrew Fruman

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Amir Khan vs Andriy Kotelnik Preview

Dave Oakes previews next Saturday's big Sky Box Office show from Manchester featuring Amir Khan and Andriy Kotelnik.

Amir Khan takes a step-up in weight and class on 18 July when he faces WBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik in what is sure to be an intriguing match up at the M.E.N Arena, Manchester.

Khan is coming off a career best victory against a faded Marco Antonio Barrera and is brimming with confidence, whilst this will be Kotelnik’s first fight since winning on a split decision against Marcos Maidana in February.

The Maidana victory is looking far more impressive since Maidana went on to stop the much touted Victor Ortiz in the sixth round of an up and down tear up last month. Kotelnik had his hands full against Maidana and had to show courage, strength and stamina as well as his usual technical prowess and solid chin to get him through the fight.

Make sure to check out The Boxing Bulletin's live blog coverage of this event.

Kotelnik is a clever boxer who always takes the first few rounds of a fight to watch his opponent and work out a game plan to beat him. He’s very methodical in the way he goes about the job, he never throws desperate punches, always keeps his chin tucked in and is very astute when it comes to identifying and exploiting his opponents’ weaknesses. He doesn’t do anything exceptionally; he just keeps plugging away and adjusting to what his opponent does, he’s very much a textbook boxer.

Despite the fact that this will be Khan’s first fight at light-welterweight, I don’t think the added weight will have a negative effect on him. He’s tall enough to carry the extra weight well and looked much bigger than Kotelnik at the recent press conference for the fight.

A lot of people are wrongly viewing Kotelnik as a step down from Khan’s last fight against Barrera. Barrera may be a bigger name than Kotelnik but he’s well past his best and was much smaller than Khan. In other words, it was the perfect fight for Khan to look good in. That’s not to take anything away from Khan, who did a thorough job against him and looked much better defensively than he had done previously.

The move to Freddie Roach’s Wildcard Gym might be the best decision Khan has ever made. In the two fights under Roach’s tutelage, Khan has looked a much more rounded boxer; he now seems content to wait for his opportunity to attack rather than trying to force the knockout from the opening bell. There has also been a vast improvement in his footwork and defence; he’s stopped bouncing around as much as he used to and keeps his hands higher and tighter around his chin than before.

His chin remains the major worry for Khan. He still claims that his chin is solid but he’s been dropped and hurt that many times in a short career that it’s become obvious that he doesn’t take a punch well at all. The feather fisted Willie Limond, had him down and staggering around like a drunk, career super-feather Michael Gomez dropped him heavily and Breidis Prescott had him down and then out inside a round in Khan’s only defeat in the paid ranks.

The Prescott defeat may be a blessing in disguise for Khan, he seemed to think he was invincible before that fight and it must have been a real shock to him that he was blown away so easily by someone who was relatively unknown until then. That defeat brought about the change in trainer as well as a change in attitude for Khan. Out went the easy distractions and celebrity lifestyle in his hometown of Bolton; in came hard work, hard sparring and anonymity in Roach’s well run gym. Khan seems to be thriving in these new conditions and will be much better equipped to challenge for a world title now than he was twelve months ago.

Kotelnik might not be a big puncher, with only thirteen of his thirty-one victories coming inside the distance, but he’s very accurate and is capable of hurting Khan if he lands clean combinations like he did against Gavin Rees when winning the title in March of last year.

Kotelnik had an easy night against Rees, as the much smaller man struggled to penetrate Kotelnik’s defence and found himself getting caught more and more as the fight wore on. Rees’ face was bloody and swollen when he was stopped in the 12th round.

The victory over Rees was Kotelnik’s second attempt at the world title after a draw against Soulemayne M’Baye in his first effort. He’s also got a loss against M’Baye and a loss against former world champion Junior Witter in what are the only two defeats on his otherwise impressive record.

There’s a feeling in Kotelnik’s camp that their man will be too experienced and will break Khan down in the later rounds. It’s a point well worth making that Khan has only gone the championship distance on one occasion, a one-sided drubbing of Gairy St Clair, where as Kotelnik has gone the distance on nine occasions. Khan looked comfortable in doing twelve rounds against St Clair but there was very little for him to worry about in a fight that was barely more than a sparring session.

I believe Khan has the stamina be able to box the full twelve rounds but his concentration level has got to be spot on if he wants to avoid another defeat. Controlled aggression is what Roach will be looking for, if Khan can box to instructions and not get carried away by the atmosphere and occasion, he should be able to out-speed and outwork Kotelnik to take a points decision around the 117-111 mark.

A busy undercard sees Enzo Maccarinelli in a make or break fight against the undefeated Denis Lebedev. It will surely be the end of Maccarinelli’s career if he suffers another defeat after being knocked clean out in two of his past three fights.

Kell Brook, the hottest prospect in Britain, defends his British welterweight title for a third time against the light punching but always competitive Michael Lomax. Brook should get some much needed rounds under his belt before stopping Lomax in the mid to late rounds.

Matthew ‘El Torito’ Hall makes the first defence of his Commonwealth light-middleweight title against the big mouth from the south, Anthony Small. The slick, switch-hitting Small will be an awkward opponent for the short and aggressive Hall. That said, I believe Hall will knock Small out if he can get on the inside and land his trademark hooks.

The undercard also sees the further development of the Olympic stars of Beijing, with Frankie Gavin, James De Gale and Billy Joe Saunders all participating in four rounders.

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FNF, Shobox and the Return of Chagaev

It's been a fairly busy weekend so far. Even with the highly anticipated main event between Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce still to come, we've already had plenty of fights worth touching on.

Last night, Yusaf Mack and Chris Henry battled it out on a FNF card that also featured middlewight propsect and crowd favourite Fernando Guerrero (photo © Cheryl Nemazie). 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward was in action on Shobox, while in Germany, Ruslan Chagaev made his return after more than a year on the shelf on a show highlighted by 140 pound belt holder Andriy Kotelnik and challenger Marcos Rene Maidana.


Yusaf Mack - Chris Henry

It was a solid, albeit a bit frustrating, Friday Night Fight headliner. Yusaf Mack showed that he carried his power up to light heavyweight, rocking Chris Henry multiple times with right hands en route to a split decision victory. He refused to put together combinations, however, and if he followed those right hands up with left hooks, he almost certainly would have knocked Henry out. Henry, for his part, actually appeared to out jab his quicker opponent. His wide right hands were the problem, as they continued to miss their mark throughout. Poor foot work and balance were also issues. Henry wasn't able to keep a proper distance on the inside, instead falling into clinches and smothering his own punches. Yusaf was badly gassed late in the fight; more body work with some uppercuts mixed in could have finished him off. Both men showed limitations that makes it difficult for me to place them among the elite at 175, although they would give most of the top 10 a rough outing. Mack's stamina issues will likely always be a problem, as will Henry's lack of accuracy and balance. - Michael Nelson

Mack has the skill to be a serious player. He's pretty good defensively, has quick hands, and can bang a little bit. The problem is in his stamina and focus. He had Henry wobbling around in the 6th round, but instead of taking advantage, he showed a lack of composure and started chucking wildly. He gassed himself in the process, and had little left in the tank for the final six rounds.

Mack will get more spots on TV because he tends to make exciting fights, but even at 30 years old, he has plenty of maturing to do if he is to fulfill his potential.

Even though Chris Henry lost, I was impressed with the way he kept plugging away. You had to admire the way he pushed the action, even while utterly exhausted. He carries certain useful tools, like above average punching power, a strong beard and all the inside stuff you want in a fighter and with work on a few technical elements he could take his game up a half a level or so.

I'd like to see simple head movement. The man is so wide open on his left side, it gave me flashbacks of Cliff Ettienne. That's a shame, because he is better than that. If Henry committed to the body with those booming rights, he would be a monster. Follow that up with a left hook and you've got yourself a dangerous man.

While dropping this fight is a definite setback, I believe this fighter has the guts and power to get back into contention.

I wouldn't mind seeing one of these guys fight Tavoris Cloud next.

Fernando Guerrero - Gabriel Rosado

The Co-feature pitted the extremely popular local prospect, Fernando Guerrero, against Gabriel Rosado. The kid from Salisbury, Maryland made sure the home crowd was not disappointed, as he pounded out a competitive unanimous decision win. This was a significant step up for the undefeated young fighter and he handled himself well, despite a flash knockdown.

We still don't know how he takes one on the chin or to the ribs, but he's an interesting personality with a devoted audience, so I look forward to checking him out again.

Andriy Kotelnik - Marcos Rene Maidana

In Germany, Andriy Kotelnik successfully defended his 140 title belt in a busted face effort against relatively unknown Argentinian banger, Marcos Rene Maidana.

The challenger came out fast, slamming several right hands around the guard while also splitting the gloves with lead left uppercuts that snapped Kotelnik's head back. He never stopped banging away for the first 3 rounds, while his opponent showed great resolve in standing up to the abuse and coming back to make it a very tight contest down the stretch.

It was Maidana's big swings and activity against Kotelnik's sharper blows and crowd reaction. In the end, the decision was a fair one. I thought the fight was 7-5 either way and the judges agreed.

Ruslan Chagaev - Carl Davis Drummond

The less said about Ruslan Chagaev's return, the better. It was one of the most timid performances I have ever seen. The opponent, Carlos David Drummond, was just as careful and it made for a yawn. It was one of those fights that make you angry. Neither guy wanted to lead at all so there were a lot of ugly collisions between the painfully few clean punches.

An accidental headbutt opened a cut over Chagaev's left eye brought an early end to things after the 6th round. He won the dreadfully boring decision that has pretty much forced me to avoid his fights for awhile.

The cut turned out to be the best thing about that "fight". It saved me from being bored for another 6 rounds.

-Lee Payton

Ward-Buchanen In his showcase on ShoBox, Andre Ward whitewashed Henry 'Sugar Poo' Buchanan, but his performance left plenty to be desired. Sugar Poo, more saccharin than pure cane, didn't put up much of a fight. His offensive output comprised mainly of 'don't touch me' jabs, and I feel when faced against a relatively harmless combatant, a prospect like Ward should do his best to take him out. Instead, he was content to potshot from the outside, never taking it to the next level. Getting inside and shredding Poo's midsection is something I would have liked to see him do. Nevertheless, Ward is obviously talented. But how sturdy his chin is and how he'd fare in a long, grueling fight remain the questions that Buchanan didn't have the capability or willingness to ask. -Michael Nelson

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Betting on Boxing: Andriy Kotelnik vs. Marcos Rene Maidana

By Michael Nelson

In a potential great fight that's flying under the radar in the boxing community outside of Europe, defending WBA Jr. Welterweight titlist Andriy Kotelnik faces a relatively unknown Argentinian banger named Marcos Rene Maidana on February 7th.

Maidana is 25-0 with 24 knockouts, but take a cursory look into this glossy record and you'll see he's fought weak, non-descript competition. Immediately, a stereotype might pop into your head. We've seen this before: seemingly 2-3 times a year, an undefeated South American boxer with a big knockout record travels to the US and gets flattened by a more experienced foe on Friday Night Fights. To be fair, there are some, like Edison Miranda, that end up being good fighters. But the majority of these men lack the seasoning to compete on a world class level.

Trying not to judge a book by its cover though, I got a hold of a few fights of Maidana. What I saw was pretty impressive. He has a wide array of punches, thrown in quick, compact fashion. He cuts off the ring very well. He invests heavily into body work. And he appears to have a pretty high ring IQ.

In his most telling fight, he fought a journeyman named Juan Carlos Rodriguez with a 56-21 record. Rodriguez was the only opponent of Maidana who had been in with recognizable names, losing to all of them. But he at least served as a gauge as far as comparing how Maidana did with how Cosme Rivera, Danny Perez, Antonio Diaz, Daniel Santos, Herman Ngoudjo, and other Rodriguez opponents did. Marcos passed the mini-test in that regard, winning virtually every minute of the fight, adapting and transitioning from relentless pressure to a more patient boxer-puncher style when he couldn't blow Rodriguez out in the first few rounds. Eventually, he placed a perfectly timed uppercut to Rodriguez' chin and knocked him cold in the 7th.

Because of the limited hand speed and offensive ability of Rodriguez, it is hard to discern exactly how good Carlos is defensively. He does roll his shoulders well, allowing him to get off crisp counter punches.

Andriy Kotelnik is the type of technical boxer we've become accustomed to seeing out of Germany. Similar to Felix Sturm and Arthur Abraham, his defense comprises of keeping earmuffs on; that is, walking to or circling around his opponent while deflecting punches off his forearms and gloves. While his opponent is busy figuring out how to penetrate his defense, he stings them with sharp jabs and straight right hands. Junior Witter caught his fair share of flack for struggling with this man, but the fact is his style is a difficult one to overcome.

Will it be too difficult for the inexperienced Marcos Maidana to overcome? It could be, but it certainly appears that Maidana has the right tools for the job. Kotelnik's earmuffs leaves his body open, and Maidana is a very busy, emphatic body puncher. He's also a dynamic one, mixing in with straight shots to the gut and uppercuts to the sternum to go with wider punches to the sides. That, and the multiple layers he has shown to have in his attack, leads me to believe he will win the title in a hotly contested battle. Fears of a homecooked decision may be somewhat of a concern, but Maidana has fought five times in Germany himself, and has developed a nice following there.

Betting Line - Andrily Kotelnik: -165 Marcos Rene Maidana: +140
My adjusted line - Andrily Kotelnik: +120 Marcos Rene Maidana: -150

Recommendation: Put some cash on the Argentinian prospect.

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