Khan must mature before going forward

By Boxing News - 09/19/2012 - Comments

Image: Khan must mature before going forwardBy John F. McKenna (McJack): After weeks of speculation former WBA and IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) finally made the announcement that he was parting ways with five time trainer of the year Freddie Roach. It was an announcement everyone knew was coming and it is certain that Roach is now relieved that Khan has moved on.

Roach had developed what he thought was a close bond with Amir and once described him as being like a son to him. Khan had also become friendly with Roach’s star pupil Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s). Roach had stated on more than one occasion that because of the friendship the three shared Khan and Pacquiao would never face each other in the ring.

Khan took on Roach as his trainer after he was KO’d in one round by Breidis Prescott (26-4, 20 KO’s) in September 2008. Amir progressed rapidly under Roach and eventually attained two title belts. Khan showed great promise as his career seemed to blossom under Roach and as recently as a year ago Freddie prophesied that Amir would be the number one Pound for Pound fighter in the world within eighteen months.

But even then Khan exhibited a stubborn streak and at times chose to go macho and ignore Roach’s instructions. At times Amir also appeared to lose focus and put the cart in front of the horse so to speak. Khan was obsessed with landing a fight with boxing mega star the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr (43-0, 26 KO’s). At times Amir’s inflated ego caused him to compare his skills to those of Floyd.

When Amir was prepping to fight Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) last December he repeatedly said that he wanted Mayweather by the end of 2012, or early in 2013. Khan, rather than focusing on Peterson seemed to be obsessed with Mayweather. Amir’s lack of concentration cost him as Peterson was given the decision. Granted the loss to Peterson was controversial and could have gone either way. The Peterson fight however, should not have been that close. Khan chose to ignore his trainer’s instructions of not fighting off the ropes. In the later rounds Amir began to listen to Roach, but by then his energy had been sapped by Peterson’s body attack.

In his match with rising star Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s), Amir after easily winning the first two rounds again ignored the advice of Roach who had counseled him not to engage in a slugfest with Garcia. This time the results for Khan were catastrophic. Danny timed the quicker Amir with a counter left hook in the 3rd round, flooring him. Khan was never able to recover from the knockdown and the fight was stopped in the 4th round to save Amir from further damage.

The irony is that after losing two fights in a row largely because he failed to follow the instructions of his trainer, Khan decided to fire his trainer. And despite what Amir has said at various times that he had accepted responsibility for his losses, the fact that he fired Roach after not following his advice indicates that at 25 he still has some growing up to do. Khan cannot and will not advance in his career until he acknowledges the mistakes he made against Peterson and Garcia and fixes them.



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