Khan will struggle with Peterson’s pressure

By Boxing News - 02/14/2012 - Comments

Image: Khan will struggle with Peterson's pressureBy William Mackay: Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) says he’s not going to fall back onto his old shoving routine when he faces IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) on May 19th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The thing is when you get rid of a bad habit, it’s usually a good idea to replace that habit with a more positive one to fill the void. With Khan he says he’s going to stop shoving his opponents 24/7 due to him losing two points in his last fight against Peterson last December.

Khan says he doesn’t want to take any risk that he’ll lose additional points in the future for his pushing off. However, the shoving has become such a huge part of Khan’s game that it’s going to be extremely difficult for him to replace it with a more positive fight tactic.

What I see happening is that instead of Khan shoving, he’ll probably use the time running and grabbing Peterson by the head like he did last time. Since Khan has never lost points in the past for pulling down on his opponents’ head, I expect this to be used even more in the Peterson rematch to deal with his inside pressure, that is, if Khan is serious about not using his shoving in the rematch.

I find it kind of hard to believe that Khan won’t shove because the tactic is too embedded with his style and I think Khan really take it out of his game without him struggling badly. Think of it like a baseball pitcher that has found success by throwing a spitball. This pitcher may have a good fastball and splitter, but the spitball, which is an illegal pitch, was such a key part of his game that the pitcher can’t find the same success as they had when they were able to freely sue the spitball.

So what happens is the pitcher starts sneaking the spitter back into his game to try and find the same success. This is how I see Khan in the rematch with Peterson. He’ll initially try and avoid shoving Peterson all around the ring to escape his pressure, but when he finds himself taking too much punishment and/or getting tired from running to escape the pressure, I see Khan slipping the shoving back into his game slowly but surely until by the last four rounds of the fight, Khan will be shoving Peterson at will as much as he was in the first fight if not more.



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