Roach: "Khan is unbelievably fast"

[Asterix]

http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/ ... -KOs-Amir/

Freddie Roach has told Amir Khan that to fulfil his potential in the ring he needs to stop looking to knock opponents out.

Speaking to ESPN's Dan Rafael, who insists that Khan will not fight on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao bill on December 6, Roach admitted to being impressed with how Khan has acquitted himself in his Hollywood Gym.

Khan moved to Roach after demoting Cuban trainer Jorge Rubio to the role of assistant following the disastrous one-round knockout defeat to Breidis Prescott in September.

The American trainer insists the biggest thing he is impressing upon Khan is caution.

"Amir sparred for the first time the other day," Roach said. "He went four rounds and he did really well. He's got a lot of tools and is unbelievably fast.

"I think the biggest thing with Amir is he just needs not to look for the knockout. That's when he gets a little lazy and forgets about defense. We need to fix that."

Roach disclosed that Pacquiao and Khan have already been training together and revealed that the Bolton fighter will spar with the pound-for-pound number one next week.

"Amir will spar with Manny before we're done," Roach added. "He's faster than Oscar, tall like Oscar and will give Manny a good look.

"He'll spar with Manny and he will be tested. It will be good for Amir and good for Manny.

"They've been running together in the morning and they're getting along just fine.

"They push each other, so it's a great situation, especially for Amir to see how the best trains. Amir is a talented kid; his work ethic is really good.

"This was Amir's first week of sparring, so we'll let him get his feet wet first before he goes in with Manny. But I'll use them with each other next week."

Khan has already been sparring with unbeaten Irish light welterweight Dean Byrne (9-0, 3 KOs) who is based in California.

I think this is very good for Khan. It's a shame Roach won't be at his side for the December fight though.

[m1kee50]

We knew he was fast.... I've never seen anyone fall over so quickly.....

(sorry!)

[Adamj1987]

We knew he was fast.... I've never seen anyone fall over so quickly.....

(sorry!)

lol no need to be sorry good to get it out of the way early

[Dioufy]

I would pay mega bucks to watch those sparring sessions next week with Manny.

[Rocky Balboa]

I would pay mega bucks to watch those sparring sessions next week with Manny.

I wouldn't pay maga bucks to see them spar each other. No way is Manny going to be allowed to open up on Khan because he would overwhelm Amir, plain & simple! It will be a learning curve for Khan, which is what it should be. There won't be no all-out explosive sparring sessions between the two because one guy is simply not on the others guys level!

[Dioufy]

You're probably right, but I would still pay top cash to see it. Even a relaxed Manny has the potential to put Khan into hibernation.

[Old bones Ian]

Another British boxer has already sparred with Manny recently, Mark Hastie was over in the US , and he did a few rounds with the P4P champ, Hastie said he did ok, and even caught Manny with a couple, but was quick to point out that it was at the very start of Manny's training.

Hastie also said that he couldn't believe how hard Manny trains, everything is 100 MPH, something another British boxer should observe as well

[whiskey]

I wonder if anyone will film their spar ?

I bet they will do it in private, just incase something happens.

[Rocky Balboa]

I wonder if anyone will film their spar ?

I bet they will do it in private, just incase something happens.

Down goes Khan, down goes Khan lol!!!

[Exoddus]

Khan goes down in 30 seconds! Roach "See, I told you, Khan is unbelievably fast"

[WildWaylon]

I wouldnt mind being there in California to watch them spar, the weathers going to be chronic over here in the UK this week. Roach can teach Khan to be cautious and not go for the KO straightaway but a top fighter with good stamina and a big punch will get him in the later rounds. Khan will beat people who run out of steam by trying to take them out later or win fights on points. Prescott saw the flaws in Khans defense and predicted he would KO him after the first four rounds. As it happened Khan made it easy for Prescott by trying to get in his own KO early and not covering up. Simple fact is Khan will get hit by the best and he has to be able to take a punch, which apparently he cant. Maybe he wont get stopped as quickly again if he listens to Roach but he will get stopped. Even class acts such as Pacman, ODH and Mayweather get hit heavy but they can clear their heads and fight on. If you want to be up there amongst the elite you must be able to defend well and take the inevitable punch that gets through.

[whiskey]

Agreed WW.

They say that superb conditioning enables a fighter to recover quickly from being hurt.

Khan has always been in shape, yet has been down 5 times as a pro already. 1 time permanently.

And not in fantastic company either.

[whiskey]

Mayweather has a good beard.

Corley rocked him but he wasn't in any danger really (unlike when Corley rocked Cotto).

[Asterix]

Agreed WW.

They say that superb conditioning enables a fighter to recover quickly from being hurt.

Khan has always been in shape, yet has been down 5 times as a pro already. 1 time permanently.

And not in fantastic company either.

Roach said that Khan needs more weight in his legs, or something to that effect.

[observer1]

I wouldnt mind being there in California to watch them spar, the weathers going to be chronic over here in the UK this week. Roach can teach Khan to be cautious and not go for the KO straightaway but a top fighter with good stamina and a big punch will get him in the later rounds. Khan will beat people who run out of steam by trying to take them out later or win fights on points. Prescott saw the flaws in Khans defense and predicted he would KO him after the first four rounds. As it happened Khan made it easy for Prescott by trying to get in his own KO early and not covering up. Simple fact is Khan will get hit by the best and he has to be able to take a punch, which apparently he cant. Maybe he wont get stopped as quickly again if he listens to Roach but he will get stopped. Even class acts such as Pacman, ODH and Mayweather get hit heavy but they can clear their heads and fight on. If you want to be up there amongst the elite you must be able to defend well and take the inevitable punch that gets through.

what you say is right, but ive seen him take punches, sometimes theres just that punch. prescott never outboxed khan, khan shouldnt have walked onto the end of that shot that wobbled him, but with what khan has, he couldve stayed on the outside and jabbed his head of, khan has the speed and the power to be a mayweather style fighter, ive never seen mayweather take a punch as heavy as what prescot landed on khan. im not sayin he'll ever be as good or even as near as good as mayweather but he has the abillity to be very a very good boxer. the hate for this lad really surprised me after the fight, i was gutted he lost, but i know it is probably for the best, he shouldnt have been doing the things he was doing in the ring, he had got away with it too often. hopefully he'll listen to roach and put his speed and power to better use. he can beat prescot, i hope he goes for the rematch after a few fights. he can be a champion.

s

Well Said,

[rhino222]

butter him up all you want......you cant polish a turd !!

[coneye]

The problem with Khan is simply built up too soon, given too much too young and he got cocky , I just cannot see why so much was /is put into a young lad turning pro who never really had many senior ameteur fights , he was brought along in typical Warren style nursed, and pampered, before he proved he had the goods , the kid is talented and he is fast , but lets have it right he was fighting midgets, and letting his mouth run wild ,calling out fighters then not fighting them , talking world titles , and he was not even comfirmed the best in the north west , talking cocky , and just generally acting cocky , lets hope the ko has really shown him some humility , and then and only then will the public get right behind him , no one likes a bighead.

[Shirow]

Mayweather has a good beard.

Corley rocked him but he wasn't in any danger really (unlike when Corley rocked Cotto).

You might be reinforcing sg's point there. Corley was hardly known for his punching power and it was one of the only times Mayweather was caught clean and he was wobbled.
He did take a few proper wacks from Mitchell though when he fought in an uncharacteristically agressive style.

[Twinkle Toes]

Expect lots of sound bites from Roach and the khan camp - They aren't exactly going to be negative are they.

I suspect Pacman will be under strict instructions to be careful.

[sharpei_louis]

Prescott wiped Khan out, but it wasn't all based on a lucky punch, Prescott could have hit Khan with anything he liked, Khan's defence was and is awful, he'll never go on to be a legitimate world champion. He's been found out, plain and simple. Who exactly will Khan go on to beat at world level? Crazy talk.

[Carbo]

I read the blog, and going to the wild card seems as though it could be the best thing for Amir. That being said, he has to keep at it full time with Roach.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Pampered Tyson was not, there may have been some easy marks in there, but at least most of them were from his own weight division - and he had more fights in his first year than Khan had in his first four!

[jamesmcdonnell]

Prescott wiped Khan out, but it wasn't all based on a lucky punch, Prescott could have hit Khan with anything he liked, Khan's defence was and is awful, he'll never go on to be a legitimate world champion. He's been found out, plain and simple. Who exactly will Khan go on to beat at world level? Crazy talk.

its funny you 'know' he couldve of hit him with anything considering it lasted less than a minute

Well given that Prescott nailed him with pretty much every power shot he threw in that time, I think it's a fair assumption that Khan's defence is poor.

[jamesmcdonnell]

butter him up all you want......you cant polish a turd !!

it isnt buttering him up, its a fact! he can be good, but he fought alot of shit fighters not all shit some tallented, but whose record at 18 n 0 doesnt consist of alot of bad fighters, i still think he can beat prescot, 18 n 1 isnt the end of the world. he shouldve gone the british lightweight route but he didnt. he will still be a champion at some point

He cannot take a punch, and therefore he is never going to win a world title, unless it is a vacant belt, against a crap undeserving fighther.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Based on what evidence precisely? You are just making excuses. It was a good punch, no doubt, but I've seen fighters take punches like that before.

I suppose the punch that Limond flattened Khan with and had him wriggling all over the canvas with would have done the same to anyone as well would it?

Face it. Khan cannot take a lick, and that is not something that is going to change. End of. He may get a shot at a world title, he may even win a belt, but a genuine world champion with real pedigree - no way.

They can teach him whatever they like, but against Elite level fighters, you are going to get hit, and when he does, the result will be the same.