Khan: I’m going to be slicker against Peterson in the rematch

By Boxing News - 04/01/2012 - Comments

Image: Khan: I'm going to be slicker against Peterson in the rematchBy William Mackay: Amir Khan says he doesn’t plan on getting hit as much as he did last time he fought and lost to Lamont Peterson last December. Khan and Peterson will be meeting up on May 19th in a rematch in Las Vegas to settle the controversy of their fight in Washington, DC. Khan still says he thinks he should have won that fight and he’ll likely still be saying that even if he gets beaten for a second time.

Khan gave a good indication of how he plans on fighting Peterson by saying to RingTV “Next time I’m going to be slicker…This time it’s going to be serious…I’m not going to go out there and make the same mistakes.”

The mistakes that Khan is referring to is when he stood in front of Peterson and chose to cover up and let him punch away on the inside. Khan says he did this because he wasn’t hurt by any of Peterson’s shots and he felt he could afford to fight that way. However, he doesn’t want to fight the same way next time because he realizes is cost him too many rounds by letting Peterson have a chance to land his shots.

I guess being “Slicker” is code for Khan choosing to run more than he did last time. It’s hard to imagine Khan running more than he did in the Peterson fight because he was running constantly, as well in the Marcos Maidana fight. It’s not interesting to watch a runner like Khan and he may run himself out of a future Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.

Khan needs to think that about that before he chooses to run all night, because Mayweather already said he doesn’t like Khan’s fighting style due to his running. Khan may win the battle but lose the war if he chooses to run like a gazelle instead of fighting. Not only will he not get the Mayweather fight, but he’ll lose boxing fans because Americans don’t like watching runners.

If Khan talking about making his fighting style even more boring than it already is by running, then he’ll be worthless to watch on HBO. I’d be surprised if they keep showing his fights if all Khan does is run around the ring. Boxing is competing with MMA for fans and having a fighter running is a real negative.



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