Khan: Will Sparring With Pacquiao Help Amir’s Glass Chin?
November 28th, 2008
By Dan Ambrose: If all it took for a fighter with a glass jaw was to spar with a big puncher to cure his problems with taking punches, I guess the boxing world would be filled with champion-caliber fighters instead of the mostly mediocre talent that permeates all of boxing now.
It looks as if lightweight Amir Khan (18-1, 14 KOs) is under the mistaken impression that he can cure his chin problems by sparring with Manny Pacquiao, saying in an interview with Mirror Sport, “I got caught with some big shots and I caught him with a few. That’s boxing and it gives you confidence if someone like Manny can hit you with a big shot and you can take it and come back at him.”
That’s all well and good, but the problem is that he was wearing headgear and over-sized gloves the whole time he was sparring, thus cushioning the blows that he was getting hit with by Pacquiao. Take away the gloves and headgear from Khan, and I’d be willing to bet that Khan would get stretched in a round or two from the big shots thrown by Pacquiao.
Getting hit in the head is the last thing that Khan needs at this point, and not something that is going to miraculously cure his chin problem any time soon. Khan, 22, was recently taken out in one round by Colombian Breidis Prescott in August.
So instead of working on taking punches from big hitters like Pacquiao, Khan really needs to figure out how to protect his fragile, egg-shell chin and learn to cover up for a change instead of trying to let his hands go all the time.
I saw a few glimpses of his sparring with Pacquiao, and Khan looked as wide open defensively in his sparring with Pacquiao as he did in his fight with Prescott. Like usual, Khan came right at Pacquiao trying to throw hooks and was getting nailed something fierce by every right hand and left hook that Pacquiao threw.
Only on a few instances did I see Khan blocking any punches and that was only because Pacquiao’s aim was off and he threw his punches right at Khan’s outstretched gloves. No, I’m afraid that Khan is wasting his time sparring with Pacquiao, if he believes that’s somehow going to build up his chin.
What Khan needs to do is sign on with someone like Floyd Mayweather Sr. as fast as he can, before Mayweather gets out of the sport altogether. Khan needs to learn how to protect himself like Floyd Mayweather Jr., only then he might have a slight chance at being a top fighter in the lightweight division.
As it is, he’s going to be in trouble once he goes up against another top lightweight with power. Khan is scheduled to fight Osin Fagan, a light hitting Irish boxer, on December 6th at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, in London.
Fagan, 34, is the perfect type of fighter for Khan due his nonexistent power and the type of fighter that Khan needs to be concentrating on for the next two years until he learns how to protect himself sufficiently enough to fight bigger punchers.
Tags: 6 Responses to “Khan: Will Sparring With Pacquiao Help Amir’s Glass Chin?”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
I agree with dan “stick” chimera; not all British fight fans want Khan to win—we hope he gets hammered every time he fights; love to watch his contorted face when Prescott hit him; Why? Because he’s over hyped, a big head with a big mouth and a queue jumper; a publicity seeker; he’ll look o.k. against handpicked opponents, but will be exposed when faced with good opponents. He’s another Hamed and we all know what a ——-sham he is.
although i do like khans style of fighting, lets be honest here, he is very over hyped by the media who as usual expect a world champ after a few fights, very arrogant and has almost zero defense and a weak jaw.
however, this all comes together to make the fights hes in very exciting and watchable, which is what boxing is all about. especially when u put this together with khans excellent physique, hand speed, power and footwork, just to name a few.
on the point of khan sparing with pacquiao, i don’t think its to build up his chin (as this is impossible), but instead to build up his confidence in taking a shot and dealing with someone with good power and fast hand speed. and if khan develops confidence in taking a shot then this will benefit him vastly.
Khan is overall a good fighter&if he stays with roach or signs on with floyd snr he’ll become a elite fighter…Khan will shut up all his critics soon…his going all the way to the top!
His style has always suited the ameteur ranks as its all about scoring point with dast hands and movement. the pro rank is different you get hit harder and more often and you have to have a chin, which he clearly hasnt. His been on his back more times then two dollar whore!!! He has been hand fed fighters and has never fought anyone in the top ten? he has great hand speed but that not enough to make as a top pro!! Sorry Khan you were a great Ameteur but poor pro I would retire before you become a laughing joke of boxing.
Big fan of Khan, hard worker, honest guy, eager to improve, great rolemodel for kids and comes from my neck of the woods.
As a boxer hes world class, wonderful speed, timing, power and shot selection. But has a terrible defence that doesnt seem to of improved since his amateur days.
Though we all know his chin is his problem, and to call it glass is an insult to the strength of glass. Its a shocking chin which isnt good enough for this sport and with the chances of him having to move up a weight to some even bigger hitters I cant see Khan acheiving any of the things he said he was guna do when he turned pro.
good article!
he needs to learn how o block more than ever as a glass jaw is something you can’t fix, its not a physical thing, its neuralogical, the brain blanks out for a split second leaving u spark out!
so if hes gonna go anywhere, which i dont think he will cos hes tripe, then he needs to learn to block and fast