By William Mackay: Freddie Roach is very concerned with the power of Lamont Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KO’s) for his fight against Roach’s fighter IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KO’s) on December 10th in Washinton, DC. Roach had an opportunity to work the mitts for Peterson not too long ago and found out how hard he can hit and his various punch assortment.

Needless to say, Roach is very worried about what Peterson can to Khan if he’s able to land his big shots.

Speaking with RingTV, Roach said “This guy [Peterson] can punch. He’s very strong, her’s very physical. He’s a good fighter. This guy is dangerous. He’s very dangerous….I’ve warned Amir.”

Roach is going a little overboard with his estimation of Peterson’s power, perhaps wanting to say nice things about the guy so he doesn’t come out with a chip on his shoulder on December 10th wanting to take Khan’s head off. But Peterson can punch a little and if Khan gets hit too much in this fight, he’ll go.

I don’t rate Khan’s chin as being good as Peterson’s last opponent Victor Cayo, who Peterson took out in the 12th round with some big power shots. Cayo was able to last for 12 rounds while eating big shots. I don’t think Khan could last half that long if Peterson is able to get un-tracked. That’s why I see this as another fight similar to Khan’s bout against Marcos Maidana where Khan uses constant movement to keep from getting hit by Peterson. However, Peterson also has excellent jab, so that if Khan thinks he’s going to run and jab, and throw quick combinations, he’s going to get hit a lot using that tactic. And Peterson will time Khan when he throws his combo.

As long as Khan isn’t grabbing the back of Peterson’s head or neck and pulling down on him while landing punches at the same time, Peterson should be okay. I think Khan will get away with a lot of the neck and head pulling if Peterson’s trainer doesn’t make a lot of noise about it before hand with the referee.

I know I would mention over and over again to make sure that Khan can’t just do this maneuver and get away with it. The same goes for his tendency to shove his opponents away when they crowd. That’s not legal and needs to be penalized if Khan uses it to keep Peterson from fighting on the inside.