By Ben Carey
Anyone think that Amir Khan is ready for Michael Katsidis? The WBO obviously do as they list Khan at no.12 in their latest world rankings, despite the Olympic silver medalist failing to beat an opponent of note during his embryonic career to date.
Michael Jennings and Nicky Cook also feature prominently by the world governing body. Click the link below to discover where the rest of Brits are ranked by the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO.
Khan will return to action on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe’s expected mismatch against Peter Manfredo Jr at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff next month. Opposing the Bolton wonderkid will be Doncaster’s Steffy Bull. Personally, I regard this as another disappointing match.
Bull, despite possessing a decent 24-4-1 record, was well beaten by Scott Lawton for the English title in June when stopped in eight rounds. And as if to emphasize Steffy’s level, Lawton was subsequently brushed aside by Jon Thaxton in his failed attempt to win the British title on Friday night.
All four of Bull’s defeats have come inside-the-distance against the aforementioned Lawton, Jason Dee, the light-hitting Alex Moon and Dean Pithie. I witnessed Bull being shaken by journeyman Jimmy Beech a couple of years ago which is a worrying sign.
The tall Yorkshire stylist has won 14 of his last 15 fights but has competed against modest opposition. In fact only 3 of his 24 wins have come against men boasting winning records. I’d be surprised if a rampant Khan allows Bull to last more than two rounds.
Heavweight
Matt Skelton WBO 10
Cruiserweight
David Haye WBC 2, WBA 4, WBO 3
Super-Middleweight
Carl Froch WBC 3, WBA 13, IBF 5, WBO 3
Middleweight
Howard Eastman IBF 14
Scott Dann IBF 10
Gary Lockett WBO 5
Light-Middleweight
Jamie Moore WBC 13
Welterweight
Michael Jennings WBO 2
Kevin Anderson WBO 5
Tony Doherty WBO 9
Takaloo WBO 14
Light-welterweight
Ricky Hatton WBC 4
Lightweight
Graham Earl WBO 10
Willie Limmond WBO 9
Amir Khan WBO 12
Super-Featherweight
Alex Arthur WBC 4, WBA 3, WBO 3
Kevin Mitchell IBF 12, WBO 5
Carl Johanneson WBO 6
Featherweight
Nicky Cook WBA 7, IBF 7, WBO 2
Derry Matthews WBO 10
Super-Bantamweight
Michael Hunter IBF 4, WBO 7 (Incidentally Bernard Dunne is WBC 12, WBA 8, IBF 11 & WBO 6)
Wayne McCullough IBF 15
UK fight news & views 