By Chris Williams: After seeing Amir Khan’s development in the past year under the guidance of trainer Freddie Roach, I have to say that Khan is going downhill rather than improving as a fighter and I think a good reason for this lack of improve is the fault of Roach.

Khan still has no defensive skills, his stamina is horrible, and he runs around the ring like wild chicken throwing shots every which way. And because of all this wasted energy, Khan runs out of gas in the last part of his fights. I think it’s time for Khan to dump Roach, cut his losses, and find a trainer that can develop his defensive skills and give him some self-control on offense. By this time, Roach should have taught Khan what to do when he’s fighting an inside guy. Instead, all we saw was Khan grabbing Peterson in headlocks or shoving his head down or giving him shoves with his left forearm. There was no skills there and how could Roach send a novice like that out to fight an inside fighter like Peterson last Saturday? I tell you Khan needs to send Roach packing. I think it’s not a good fit. Maybe Roach is good for Manny Pacquiao, because you don’t have to be perfect for that guy due to the great matchmaking his promoter Bob Arum does for him. But Khan is actually going to have to fight good guys and he’s going to continue to get exposed unless he learns how to fight.

Khan has great physical tools, but he needs guidance from a professional that understands defense and won’t focus just on his offense. It’s pretty clear that Roach isn’t improving Khan and is actually making him a worse fighter. I think Khan needs to give Roach the old drop kick and look for a wily trainer like Floyd Mayweather Sr. to teach him defense and the other parts of the game that he’s still missing.

Mayweather Sr. was disgusted with Khan’s performance last weekend against Lamont Peterson, saying to the examiner.com “Laila Ali fights better than that. S**t! He [Khan] was all over, throwing punches from across the street and he’s an awkward guy but he can fight better than that. All I can say is he needs some more work, a lot more work matter of fact.”

Khan still can’t defend himself, fight on the inside or think on his feet to make the right decisions in the heat of battle. You saw it against Peterson. Khan would run around the ring, get tired, and then just cover up like a wooden statue. Or he’d grab Peterson and yank on his head. It was so sad to see how underdeveloped Khan still despite all the wasted time he’s spent with Roach.

I think Khan needs to wise up and give Roach his walking papers before he wastes too much of his own career. Khan shouldn’t have lost that fight against Peterson last Saturday if he knew how defend himself and fight with intelligence.