By Ian S Palmer
England’s Amir Khan is back in the ring this Saturday, September 8th to take on Samuel Vargas of Colombia in a 12-round welterweight bout from Birmingham, England. Fans in the UK can catch the action live on Sky Sports. This is Khan’s second bout after a two year layoff. He stopped Phil Lo Greco after just 39 seconds in his first comeback fight in April. Vargas’ last contest was a 10-round majority decision draw with Mauro Maximilano Godoy in June in defence of Vargas’ WBA-NBA Welterweight Title.
The 31-year-old Khan of Bolton is a former World Junior Welterweight and British Commonwealth Lightweight Champion who enters the contest at 32-4 with 20 Kos. His sixth-round stoppage loss to Canelo Alvarez in a shot at the WBC Middleweight Title in May, 2016 snapped a five-fight winning streak with victories over Chris Algieri, Devon Alexander, Luiz Collazo, Julio Diaz and Carlos Molina. The native of Bolton, England has lost four fights during his career with three of them coming by stoppage and it’s well known his chin is often questionable even though he has stood up to some solid punchers.
Khan’s first loss was a first-round stoppage to Breidis Prescott in 2008 and he then dropped highly-controversial split decision to Lamont Peterson in December of 2011. He was stopped by former WBC Champion Danny Garcia in the fourth round in his very next fight in July of 2012 and was also KO’d by Alvarez. However, he’s also faced and beaten some of the best boxers of his weight divisions over the years such as Marco Antonio Barrera, Zab Judah, Andriy Kotelnik, Paulie Malignaggi and Marcos Maidana as well as those mentioned above on his five-bout winning streak.
In fact, Khan’s gone 10-3 with 2 Kos against former and current world champions. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and capped it off with a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2004 Olympics in Athens as a 17-year-old. Khan turned pro in 2005 and now has 210 rounds under his belt since then with a decent knockout ratio of 56 per cent. He stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a reach of 71 inches and possesses fine boxing skills, speed and movement in the ring. He’s not known as a power puncher, but managed to stop Judah and deck Maidana and Collazo.
Vargas was born in Colombia, but now calls Toronto, Canada his home. He’s 29 years old and has a record of 29-3-2 with 14 Kos under his belt. Vargas turned pro back in 2010 and has 215 rounds to his name since then. He’s basically a super welterweight/welterweight who’s fought the majority of his bouts in Canada. Vargas is 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach, so he has a slight one-inch height and reach advantage on Khan. He was stopped by Errol Spence Jr. in the fourth round in April, 2015, dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Pablo Munguia in December, 2013 and was stopped by Danny Garcia in the seventh round in November, 2016 for his three losses.
Vargas’ draws were against Godoy in his last bout and a 10-round affair with Tebor Bosch in 2011.
Other than Spence, Garcia and Ali Funeka, most fans won’t recognize any of Vargas’ other opponents. He doesn’t possess much in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of 41 per cent, but Vargas is a solid pro with a lot of heart. He’s had problems when stepping up in class, but there’s no shame in being stopped by both Spence and Garcia. But if he’s hungry enough he should be motivated to make a name for himself here with a decent showing against Khan. Since turning pro, Vargas has also captured the Canadian Welterweight and WBA-NABA Canada Super Welterweight Title.
Prediction…
Khan simply needs to use his speed, jab, footwork and other boxing skills against Vargas as well as his underrated power. The Englishman has excellent boxing skills with his chin being his obvious weak spot. However, Vargas doesn’t really have the power to take advantage of it. Khan is one of the best pure boxers in the sport and it’s tough to beat him if he remains on his feet. I’m expecting him to beat Vargas with a stoppage being a possibility.
