By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) is more than pleased with the results of training under new conditioning coach Reuben Tabares. Tabares replaced former conditioning coach Alex Ariza after he abruptly left camp in the Philippines where Khan was training with Manny Pacquiao in preparation for his fight with new WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.

Tabares has Khan on a diet of vegetables, salads, organic foods and fruit juices while he prepares for his world title fight with Danny Garcia (23-0, 14 KO’s). Both Khan and trainer Freddie Roach could not be more pleased with the results. In the final days in the lead up to the fight Khan is lean and mean and says he has never felt better. Amir also states that he feels a lot fresher and much stringer since adapting his new trainer’s diet.

Roach says that he can feel the added power in Amir’s punches while working the mitts with Khan and says that Khan is hitting harder than ever.

Amir is already down to 146 pounds with three days to go before Friday’s weigh in. In the past Khan has weighed as much as 152 pounds the night before a fight and has had to drink as much as thirty liters of water to flush his system out in order to make the weight.

Tabares uses a much less drastic system in which he gradually reduces Amir’s caloric content making it far easier for him to come down to fight weight.
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Boxing fans and pundits will be closely monitoring Khan’s performance Saturday night when he takes on Garcia at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. It will be Amir’s first fight since his disappointing performance against Lamont Peterson in Washington, D.C. last December. In that fight Khan lost his WBA and IBF title belts in a fight that was marred by numerous controversies.

Khan and Peterson were scheduled for a rematch on May 19, but the fight was cancelled when Lamont failed a drug test. It was later revealed that Peterson had taken a banned substance prior to the December fight with Khan. The WBA has already stripped Peterson of his title belt while the IBF has not yet made a final ruling.