By Jamie Ellison

Promoter Frank Warren has confirmed that prodigal son Amir Khan is to fight Scotland’s vastly more experienced Willy Limond on the 14th July at the o2 arena (formerly the Millennium Dome) for Limond’s Commonwealth strap. It’s a big step up for Khan who will be making his first foray into the world of 12 round championship fights.

Khan is, of course, well known. He shot to fame when winning a silver medal at the Olympics and has gone on to forge a decent career for himself in the professional ranks. Whilst there have been question marks over some of his opponents, Khan has performed well every time in building up a perfect 12-0 (9) record. Last time out he stopped the outgunned Stefy Bull in three rounds. Poor old Stefy never landed a punch and was physically sick afterwards.

But Khan’s career so far has not been without it’s detractors. There are concerns over his punch power – Amir has never knocked out an opponent, all that have been stopped have been overwhelmed by the sheer speed and volume of his punches. There are concerns over his chin – he was floored heavily in one of his last amateur fights against the relatively feather fisted Craig Watson and has yet to be put in with anyone that can punch. There are also concerns over his defence – he was floored by Rachid Drilzane in his first title fight up at light welter and the general consensus is that he should tighten up at the very least.

And Frank Warren certainly seems to have concerns. As has been said, he’s yet to put Khan in with anyone that could be considered a puncher and his opponents thus far have been questionable. A lot have been super feathers moving up to lightweight to fight Khan – a big lightweight himself – and Bull actually came out of retirement for the opportunity to fight Khan. Khan has had 12 pro fights – in Prince Naseem’s 12th pro fight he fought for (and won) the European title whilst being guided by Warren. So one suspects that maybe Warren himself is a little worried about the progress Khan is making.

Which brings us to Limond. He holds a 28 – 1 record, with his only defeat coming at the hands of the world class Alex Arthur in 8 rounds. He won the commonwealth strap he’ll be defending against Khan with a good display over Kpatko Allotey from Ghana and will be confident that he’ll be too experienced for Khan. As is the norm for Khan’s opponents, Limond is a relatively small puncher with just 8 knockouts or stoppages from his 28 wins. He’s a good boxer with a decent jab who moves well. But so is Khan. To outbox him is going to be very difficult, and so Willy might have to hope for the stoppage which looks unlikely to come.

But it’s a good step up for Khan, and it should tell us a lot about him. Arthur is a massive puncher, Khan is not, and Limond will be working until the final bell. Against Drilzane Khan was noticeably tired towards the end of the tenth, which could signal bad things for the man from Bolton. Look for Khan to come through some worrying moments late on to win a unanimous decision.