By Sean McDaniel: Freddie Roach, the trainer of WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s), reportedly has a good plan that he will have Khan employ against challenger Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) on Saturday night in their fight at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England.
Roach doesn’t say what the plan is but it could be something along the lines of Khan going at the slower McCloskey hard in the first couple of rounds to try and overwhelm and take him out with speed and power shots.
In an article at the telegraph.co.uk, Roach said “We have a great plan. Yes, McCloskey has an awkward southpaw style, but he makes too many mistakes and we’re really going to take advantage of them. It was great for Amir’s confidence to come through those torrid rounds against Marcos Maidana in his last fight. Amir’s very aggressive, he wants to fight.”
It looks as if Roach is comfortable with letting Khan attack the light-hitting McCloskey early in this fight to try and get him out of there early. This is really only way for Khan to impress anyone, and he’s been flapping his gums lately about wanting to make a big impression on fans to get people talking about his next fight against WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.
Khan would never attempt to attack a big puncher early with big power shots, but with his selection of the weak punching McCloskey, whom he personally picked out, Khan has a good chance of putting the heat on him early to try and overwhelm him shots. If McCloskey is smart, he’ll cover up and counter Khan with something down the middle. He could possibly score a knockout if Khan gets a little too ahead of himself.
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