Ward: Khan will be difficult to beat if he fixes his defense

By Boxing News - 11/21/2012 - Comments

Image: Ward: Khan will be difficult to beat if he fixes his defenseBy William Mackay: WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward has been impressed with what he’s seen of former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan in watching him workout in the same gym that they share in Oakland, California. Khan recently changed trainers from Freddie Roach to Virgil Hunter, the trainer that Ward is trained by. Khan feels that Hunter will be able to help his defensive problems, as he’s done such a great job of making Ward so good defensively.

In an interview at Fighthype.com, Ward said “I think if he keeps getting a concept of defence, I think it’s going to enhance his offense and I think he’s just going to be really hard to beat.”

This sounds good but just because Khan is looking better defensively in working with his new trainer Hunter doesn’t mean that Khan is going to be able to find success when it comes to his actual fights. Even the best defensive fighters have to be able to take some heavy shots in each fight, and that’s Khan’s whole problem.

His chin is fragile and he’s going to have problems finding success even with Hunter as his trainer unless Golden Boy Promotions puts Khan back on the soft diet of weaker punchers that he was largely on before he met up with Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia.

Khan says he wants to try and avenge his loss to Garcia next year, and there’s just no way that Khan will be able to get through an entire 12 round bout against a puncher like Garcia without him landing one of his big left hooks to Khan’s jaw.

I think Khan can find limited success with Hunter but sooner or later he’s going to get knocked out and there’s much Hunter will be able to do about it. Khan’s chin will betray him again eventually.

Khan doesn’t have a lot to worry about for his next fight on December 15th because Golden Boy has selected for a small fighter with little power in Carlos Molina. Khan is both bigger and stronger than this guy, and will likely get through the fight unscathed.



Comments are closed.