The Two Best Things To Happen To Amir Khan

1.) Being knocked out by Prescott.
2.) Being knocked out by Garcia.

After being knocked out by Prescott, Khan was "Never gonna make it" he was a "Chinless wonder" would "Never win a world title". Khan rebuilt himself, became much improved under the guidance of Freddy Roach, became a world class fighter, was able to take on other world class opposition, became a unified champion. However, he still had flaws in his game that Roach hadn't been able to take care of, but had masked over them by making him use some of his advantages better.

He began being more and more reckless in the ring however and the fact that Roach never really gave him an inside game to work with made him suffer as a fighter, the Roach way is to use movement instead of inside fighting. Lamont Peterson, testosterone pellets or not, did highlight this and make it very clear that Khan needed work on his inside game as simply standing there and pushing off wasn't enough.

Against Danny Garcia, I am very confident even under the guidance of Roach that he would have won this fight. However, there was something inbetween this, and it was Danny's father, Angel Garcia.

Khan - "I am gonna say this, and I have never said this at a press conference before a fight before, but I am going to knock Danny Garcia out."


This to me is a telling sign that Khan did not have his mind on boxing Garcia, in hindsight it now makes me think that he wanted to fight Garcia. Khan lingered in the pocket too long, threw extra combinations,put more spite in his punches, widened his stance to sit down on his punches, wanted to hurt Garcia with his shots and ultimately paid the price for this, he left himself open to flash exchanges whilst throwing more and more recklessly.

Kellerman - "It's in the exchanges is where Garcia is dangerous"

Which turned out to be right, because the round after Kellerman mentioned this, Garcia had Khan in all sorts of trouble. Khan, not fightign a disciplined fight cost him, the thing is with Khan, he's a hard woker, some people think that this kind of fighting instinct can't be ironed out of you with hard work. That could be true for many fighters, however I feel with Khan that's not quite the case. I think that it can be ironed out because he now realises with absolution he's in the last chance saloon, and because his trainer Virgil Hunter, I believe will be able to get it through to him.

The second best thing in Khan's career will be getting knocked out by Garcia, getting knocked out by Prescott put him to a world class fighter after realising the improvements he had to make, now getting knocked out by Garcia, he will realise the other improvements and discipline he has to impose upon himself.

There will be many doubters after the Garcia loss, but I believe in Khan, he still has plenty of suprises to give us yet in my view, the work has started, Virgil is slowly changing him, he's becoming more mature, he will come good.

your like a knight in shining armour

jimmy glitter pants wrote:your like a knight in shining armour

Err, cheers... Jimmy... Glitter... Pants...


...

Yea, I remember the comments after he got knocked out by Danny. "Retire!!" (And that was from his biggest fan)

Pity he has such weak minded supports

Definitely agree that he's reacted well to his two losses and that he's used them as incentive to get better. I also definitely agree that he has more success in front of him and that he can be a good champion. I do, however, think that he lacks the inherent poise that most great fighters have while hurt or under pressure. He simply doesn't react well to being taken out of his stride. Lots can be done to mitigate this, and he looks to be doing that with Hunter. But, I can never see Khan going on a dominant streak at the top. Just too many flaws in his game. But, he's very exciting to watch, and I think he always will be.

Reborn-DeeMcK-Reborn wrote:Yea, I remember the comments after he got knocked out by Danny. "Retire!!" (And that was from his biggest fan)

Pity he has such weak minded supports

Nice to see you posting on here Reborn, nothing to do with Frampton fighting tonight?

Nice to see that your first post back isn't starting stuff with Az.

How's things mate. Nah, just couldn't help myself. I still read the site every other day. Just can't be annoyed gettin involved with some of the circus acts on here.

Frampton will make Martinez look like a journeyman tonight. Martinez's style is all made for Carlos. Easy points (or late tko). I'll not be posting on here due to being at it.

I'm actually going to be rootin for Lee Selby. I think he's a solid chap. Lindsey to get stopped on his feet in 10

khans problem in the garcia fight wasnt getting caught with the left hook, he is a boxer and that will happen, same in the prescott fight actually, the first punch that put him down hurt him, it was his awful reaction to been put down, which is to stand and trade, thats what virgil hunter needs to change, which will be a tougher job than what freddie had with him.

How can getting starched twice be the two best things???? What crud...

Fact is he's probably lost the chance to be an alltime great because of those two defeats....and the other one..

The best thing to happen to him would have been to stay unbeaten......

When you lose to three ordinary fighters your legacy is hurt probably for good..

He's only fought one midget since Garcia......

You're either naive.................or a blinded fanboy to take anything from fighting a stiff and getting a new trainer..

Yeah, I think you've got a winner there with Frampton over in Ireland, just wish someone would actually make a serious comment over this article which took me a while to write....

It's not the fact he lost but the manner in which he lost, any decent boxer who now faces him will be trying to pressure him and knock him out.

erm ill not take offense to that alex, the ko prescott was the best thing to happen khan, it made him change, but it remains to be seen if the garcia fight has benefited him. i would really like to see peterson and garcia rematched soon, he cannot leave LWW with so much unfinished buisness.

Ghosty....I must be going crazy!!.

Now If you get slapped off Crud it's the best thing to ever happen to you??

You think maybe ironing out faults in the gym would have been better and having a legacy..perhaps??

Truss

Do you see the Hagler/Hearns fight panning out as it did without the Leonard fight beforehand?

The same thing will now happen with Khan, any good boxer will go into a fight with him confident they can stop him.

Absolutely.............

Problem is ghosty that he can't change!!........

In built mechanism that like Holyfield when he gets tagged he wades in.....

He is what he is..............

All well and good if you've got the chin of Holyfield but if you've got the chin of Hearns.

I think it remains to be seen whether the Garcia fight will be good for him, but there are certainly signs of improvement, however difficult to gauge. I think you make a good point regarding Khan's legacy TRUSSMAN, he is probably incapable of all-time-great status now (barring some kind of freak run of results). However, in terms of making Khan a better boxer I think the Prescott fight was indisputably a good thing, he's come on a lot since then, we'll just have to wait and see if he can take it to the next level.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:How can getting starched twice be the two best things???? What crud...

Fact is he's probably lost the chance to be an alltime great because of those two defeats....and the other one..

The best thing to happen to him would have been to stay unbeaten......

When you lose to three ordinary fighters your legacy is hurt probably for good..

He's only fought one midget since Garcia......

You're either naive.................or a blinded fanboy to take anything from fighting a stiff and getting a new trainer..

Fair comment Truss, however, I am my eyesight is fine and I most certainly aren't a fanboy, just how I see it panning out.

My opinion is because of the nature of Amir

Being starched twice although a bad setback I think going forward in the future it will help make Khan a better fighter and will take him onto the next level, defeats aren't the end of the world like we like to make out, they canmake you stronger believe it or not, and that's what I reckon will happen with Khan.

In terms of legacy Truss, I agree with you, of course not, in terms of making him a beter fighter, yes I believe so.

Truss, I don't think the knockout losses hinder his chances of becoming an all time great.

Didn't Pacquiao get knocked out twice earlier in his career by nobodies??

Khan was sparked by Prescott (garbage) and then by a World Champ in Garcia.

Lewis was hammered by Rahman, but cam back and destroyed him.

Who is to say Khan can not come back under Virgil and hammer Garcia and go on to great things?

He is still very young and not yet at his peak.

If he sticks to boxing rather than a tear up, he could be greater.

Im not sure I agree really. Khans had three poor losses now as well as plenty of warnings throughout his career (Limond, Gomez, Maidana etc) but he consistently makes the same kind of errors. It would suggest to me a certain inability to learn from past mistakes so Im not confident he will overcome this. How many wake up calls does he need? He has good raw speed and punching but he is a pretty incomplete fighter that seems to consistently repeat mistakes and display tactical naivety/unawareness.

im not sure if he can change either, but i think virgil hunter is the man who could change him if anybody can, and if he has another great role model in wards who can only help bring out the best in as well.

i think the garcia rematch is a must if he is to ever be considered up there with the greats, peterson kind of screwed him, and he was on roids as well, so although i'd like to see him set that one right, i could forgive that loss.

Who is Virgil Hunter?

1) a fantastic coach?

2) someone fortunate enough to train a talented Olympic Champion?

TheMackemMawler wrote:Who is Virgil Hunter?

1) a fantastic coach?

2) someone fortunate enough to train a talented Olympic Champion?

A fair point, always raises the question do trainers make fighters or do fighters make trainers? I watched the behind the ropes show or whatever its called before Khans last fight & Hunter impressed me.

sohotnot wrote:

TheMackemMawler wrote:Who is Virgil Hunter?

1) a fantastic coach?

2) someone fortunate enough to train a talented Olympic Champion?

A fair point, always raises the question do trainers make fighters or do fighters make trainers? I watched the behind the ropes show or whatever its called before Khans last fight & Hunter impressed me.

It's their job to impress.

If they can't impress their charge, make them believe in them, then they need to find an alternative profession.

TheMackemMawler wrote:

sohotnot wrote:

TheMackemMawler wrote:Who is Virgil Hunter?

1) a fantastic coach?

2) someone fortunate enough to train a talented Olympic Champion?

A fair point, always raises the question do trainers make fighters or do fighters make trainers? I watched the behind the ropes show or whatever its called before Khans last fight & Hunter impressed me.

It's their job to impress.

If they can't impress their charge, make them believe in them, then they need to find an alternative profession.

Its not their job to impress me tho is it. I liked the way Hunter was putting Khan through S & C training that he said made sense for boxing rather than some random training that wasn't specific. Also the work he was doing with Khan in the ring, the little adjustments, pointing out Khans mistakes.

As I said on your PED wum thread I feel the Americans have that little bit extra compared to their UK counterparts, a lot of old school basics with a modern twist. The UK seem to make their fighters believe in themselves & get them in great shape but not always a lot else. Some of billy grahams training with Hatton towards the end took a lot to be desired at times.

I think what I meant was....

If they can impress their charge then it only follows that they would impress us (the fan)

I always thought that Roach and to a degree Dundee were trainers made by their fighter whereas the likes of Futch, Steward and Arcel made fighters.

Well dundee was certainly fortunate..didn't he have Ali, Leonard and Patterson?

Those were some great amateur boxers.

Not too sure about roaches career?

Seems to me he is really offensive, kinda suited to the boxers that are attracted to him (except Khan)

Imperial Ghosty wrote:I always thought that Roach and to a degree Dundee were trainers made by their fighter whereas the likes of Futch, Steward and Arcel made fighters.

Interestingly a lot of fighters have gone to Roach later on in their careers but then that may back up what you said. I must admit that I find roach interesting when talks about boxing & technique.

Steward definitely played a huge part in Hearns success and refined Lewis & Wlad. while watching Rigo vs Cordoba he was commenting about the importance & effectiveness of a good jab, which was lacking in modern boxing. Most of the great jabbers he mentioned were HW's.

Patterson was Cus D'Amato, another one trick trainer.

Yeah wasn't too sure if he had Patterson.

You seem a bit harsh on Cus old sport, especially considering the stylistic differences between Tyson and Floyd. Saying that you could be referring to his tendancy to turning street thugs around? (though i don't know if Floyd was a street thug...I'm sure you do?)

I'm thinking more about Jose Torres and Floyd Patterson the two who made him his name initially, peek-a-boo seemed to be his sole style.

You're probably right Ghosty.

The only boxers i know he had was Patterson and Tyson!

I maybe shouldn't admit this but i don't even know Jose Torres.

Sometimes i feel embarrassed crossing swords with you lot!

He ironically beat Dundees Willie Pastrano for the light heavyweight title but the mid 60's 175lbers are generally a very forgettable lot.

Yeah i was thinking that too

Don't want to bore you too much but Moores retirement marked the end of the golden age for the division which had last well over a decade.

Mate, I never get tired of learning.

Good piece alex. As others have said with khan you get the feeling he will never completely learn his lesson. I do agree that it was garcias dads comments that led to the down fall in that fight. Garcia has his knockout power and thats about it. If khan can stick to a game plan he beats him 9 times out of 10. But thats tue the big promblem 'if'