Following his return to MMA at PFL’s Battle of the Giants in October, there has been a lot of conversation regarding what will be next for Francis Ngannou. His first-round finish over Renan Ferreira doesn’t leave a whole lot of interesting matchups for him in MMA but he does have the option of going back […]
Following his return to MMA at PFL’s Battle of the Giants in October, there has been a lot of conversation regarding what will be next for Francis Ngannou. His first-round finish over Renan Ferreira doesn’t leave a whole lot of interesting matchups for him in MMA but he does have the option of going back to boxing for his next contest.
“The Bronze Bomber” is still one of the biggest names in the heavyweight division but following his recent form, he would seemingly be a better opponent for Ngannou than the likes of Fury and Anthony Joshua. Wilder has not looked the same in his latest outings and losses against Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker and though it looked like he might retire, the knockout artist appears to be gearing up for one more.
In a recent interview with The Sports Daily, former world champion turned analyst Amir Khan said that he would pick Ngannou to win that fight if he does get booked to face Wilder next time out. Based on his back-to-back losses, Khan isn’t sure whether Wilder has the same hunger anymore and getting in the ring with Ngannou is a dangerous prospect to begin with.
“Wilder’s last fight was really bad. You always look at the last fight and Wilder is done to be honest with you. I like Wilder but Ngannou has the power to hurt him.
“Ngannou is not the best boxer but he put on a good fight against Fury and got knocked out against AJ. Ngannou is going to win that fight. Unless Wilder comes in as a different fighter with that fire in his belly.”
On April 18, Amir Kahn was robbed at gunpoint for his luxury custom watch while walking with his wife. According to the boxing star, on Monday night he was approached by two masked men as he and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, were crossing a London street. One of the men pointed a gun at Khan’s…
On April 18, Amir Kahn was robbed at gunpoint for his luxury custom watch while walking with his wife.
According to the boxing star, on Monday night he was approached by two masked men as he and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, were crossing a London street. One of the men pointed a gun at Khan’s head and demanded his watch.
After the Franck Muller Vanguard Chronograph watch was taken, the two men fled and drove away. Following the armed robbery, the local authorities were called at approximately 9 pm.
Police arrived momentarily at the scene on High Road in Leyton, East London, and searched the area. No arrests were made, but Metropolitan police have opened an investigation and are following inquiries.
The boxer shared chilling details of the traumatic event on multiple social media platforms.
Just had my watch taken off me at gun point in East London, Leyton. I crossed the road with Faryal, luckily she was few steps behind me. 2 men ran to me, he asked for my watch whist having a gun pointed in my face. The main thing is we’re both safe.
“Just had my watch taken off me at gun point in East London, Leyton. I crossed the road with Faryal, luckily she was few steps behind me. 2 men ran to me, he asked for my watch whist having a gun pointed in my face. The main thing is we’re both safe,” Khan Tweeted.
Footage Released Of Attempted Robbery
Soon after news of the attempted robbery broke, the following CCTV footage of the incident was captured. You can view that footage below.
Supposedly, Khan knows who may have planned the robbery and has notified the authorities. His wife has posted photos of the watch and its serial number to help track it down.
Khan and his wife feared for their lives on Monday night. Thankfully, both were unharmed and were able to return to their children.
Amir Khan with his wife and their children, via Instagram
In addition to winning multiple boxing championships, Khan is a fight promoter and philanthropist. He became Britain’s youngest boxing Olympic medalist when he won Silver in the 2004 Olympics at age 17.
Khan’s last fight ended in defeat as he suffered a TKO in round 6 against Kell Brook in February.
What is your reaction to Amir Khan being robbed at gunpoint?
Artem Lobov and former WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan have had some longstanding issues with one another over the years. Back in 2017, the pair actually got into a bit of a Twitter spat that sparked some bad blood. Now that Lobov is no longer under an exclusive contract with the UFC, “The Russian Hammer” […]
Now that Lobov is no longer under an exclusive contract with the UFC, “The Russian Hammer” can pursue a fight with Khan. And that’s exactly what he’s doing. Lobov now has some experience in the world of boxing. Bare-knuckle boxing to be exact. However, in his latest outing, he bested a former WBA welterweight champion in Paulie Malignaggi.
The victory solidified something Lobov already knew, as he told LowKickMMA. That being that the gap between MMA fighters and boxers isn’t as wide as people think.
“It’s something I already knew,” Lobov said. “The gap is a lot closer between boxers and MMA fighters, it’s not as big as people make it out to be. So I knew it was going to be very competitive. Also, given the nature of the fight, that it’s not a straight boxing fight, and the fact that Paulie is already in his forties, you know, I was sure I was going to get the win. So I was not surprised at all.
“I had hoped for a bit more action in the fight. I was hoping that after everything that had been said in the lead up to the fight I was hoping that Paulie would bring it, that he would come in and fight and try and do something – especially given the fact that he is the former world champion. But, however, he was still on his bike, he was running away, he didn’t want to engage, the referee didn’t let me clinch, so as a result, I didn’t do as much damage as I had hoped. But I won it comfortably.”
Lobov has now expressed interest in making his professional boxing debut. He’s open to rematching Malignaggi in a legitimate boxing match, pointing to the Logan Paul vs. KSI DAZN card as a possible landing spot for such a fight. However, Malignaggi isn’t the only opponent he’s seeking out. Lobov is still gunning for a fight against Khan, and is ready to fight him in bare-knuckle or a traditional boxing fight.
“Absolutely. I’ve been trying to get a boxing fight for a while now,” Lobov said. “I’ve been trying to get the Amir Khan fight. Doesn’t seem to be happening at the moment. I’m still on the lookout for a boxing fight. I’ve had my experience in the bare-knuckle ring now, I always train with the boxers. There’s a lot of very very high-level boxers in Ireland, I spare with them on a regular basis.
“I definitely want to try myself out in the boxing ring. Even if you look at my UFC losses, it was always due to wrestling. I was never really losing due to my striking. Even guys like Michael Johnson, I was making him wrestle. He didn’t want to stand with me. So I was never knocked out, even when guys threw head kicks at me. I was able to recover and keep marching forward.
“So to me, a boxing fight, I don’t see what the dangers for me would be. I definitely have the chin, I definitely have the power, there is no wrestling where they can just hold me down for the points – I see myself having a very very good chance.”
Lobov’s longtime MMA coach, John Kavanagh, threw his support behind a potential MMA fight between Lobov and Khan earlier this year. However, Lobov doesn’t think Khan would present much of a challenge for him inside the MMA cage. He’d much rather test himself against Khan under bare-knuckle or traditional boxing rules.
“Yeah, well definitely bare-knuckle boxing he’d have a chance – or straight boxing I’d fight him as well,” Lobov said. “MMA, I think the transition is too difficult for a boxer into MMA. There’s just way too many things that they need to learn. From kicks, to wrestling, to jiu-jitsu, this is years and years of transition. I know he’s teased about it, but unless he has been training non-stop in grappling and wrestling all that time, then that fight doesn’t interest me in MMA.
“I would still do it for the money, of course, if they offered it to me. I mean, but, I’ve always been after big challenges. I’ve always been after the hardest fights I could possibly get. And an MMA fight against Amir Khan would not be any of those things. Not even close. So, not very interested to be honest, but like I said, money talks, so if the money was there I’d do it of course.”
Artem Lobov outpoints Paulie Malignaggi at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 6 in Tampa, Florida. – Photo by Phil Lambert/BKFC
“Yeah, pretty much, that’s exactly what’s happening there,” Lobov said. “I doubt he’s very serious because it would just take – I mean maybe at the start when they’ve never tried, boxers can be a little bit – they’ve participated in combat sports so they’ve got a lot of pride and ego, they don’t want to maybe admit that an MMA fighter would be a one-way street.
“They might think they’d be a bit competitive, but I guarantee you, that thought would be straight out of their mind the moment they try a sparring session the first time, even pretty much a beginner MMA guy, that’s only been training for a year, if they try to spar an MMA fight against someone like that, a boxer would very quickly realize they have no place in an MMA ring.”
Do you think Lobov and Khan will ever settle their differences?
After taking down one boxer in Paulie Malignaggi, Artem Lobov wants to take down another in former boxing champion Amir Khan. Lobov most recently outpointed Malignaggi at Bare Knuckle FC 5 last month in an event that drew many eyes from the combat sport world. The former UFC featherweight is now targeting bigger names. His […]
After taking down one boxer in Paulie Malignaggi, Artem Lobov wants to take down another in former boxing champion Amir Khan.
Lobov most recently outpointed Malignaggi at Bare Knuckle FC 5 last month in an event that drew many eyes from the combat sport world. The former UFC featherweight is now targeting bigger names. His coach John Kavanagh suggested a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight with former boxing champion Amir Khan to take place at Brave CF.
Lobov would respond soon after, urging the Asian promotion to make the fight happen if they wanted an event that would send waves across the combat world:
“My last fight was called the event of the summer by FORBES, if you want BRAVE to make real waves in combat world I am your man!! Khan, Broner, Manny, whoever…..when I fight the world is watching!!!”
My last fight was called the event of the summer by FORBES, if you want BRAVE to make real waves in combat world I am your man!! Khan, Broner, Manny, whoever…..when I fight the world is watching!!!
Despite the attention Malignaggi vs. Lobov received, it did not translate well into pay-per-view (PPV) buys, however. It was reported earlier this month that it only did in the range of 18,000 buys on traditional television PPV.
However, one can imagine given Khan’s popularity worldwide, there would be more eyes on this fight, especially as it would be in MMA. Khan, who is a fan of the sport, is expected to attend the invite-only Brave 24 event in London next week. Kavanagh will also be there as he corners Cian Cowley.
Tonight (Sat. Aril 20, 2019) WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford will defend his title. He’ll step into the ring against English veteran Amir Khan. The action all goes down from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Crawford is…
Tonight (Sat. Aril 20, 2019) WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford will defend his title. He’ll step into the ring against English veteran Amir Khan. The action all goes down from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Crawford is undefeated in his boxing career and has racked up a record of 34-0 heading […]
Tonight (Sat. Aril 20, 2019) WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford will defend his title. He’ll step into the ring against English veteran Amir Khan. The action all goes down from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Crawford is…
Tonight (Sat. Aril 20, 2019) WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford will defend his title. He’ll step into the ring against English veteran Amir Khan. The action all goes down from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Crawford is undefeated in his boxing career and has racked up a record of 34-0 heading […]
