Khan’s chances of getting Roach full time is slim to none

By Boxing News - 08/14/2012 - Comments

Image: Khan's chances of getting Roach full time is slim to noneBy William Mackay: Amir Khan wants his trainer Freddie Roach to be able to devote more attention to his training without Khan having to squeeze himself in between Roach’s other fighters.

However, with Roach making a lot of money to train guys like Manny Pacquiao and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the chances are low that he’ll be open to working with Khan full time whenever he wants him to.

It may not matter how much Roach works with Khan, because if Khan’s chin isn’t strong enough to take an occasional solid shot from a world class light welterweight like Danny Garcia, then it won’t mater how much time Roach spends with Khan. This goes beyond training into the physical limitations that Khan has as a fighter. Roach isn’t going to fix Khan’s chin.

Roach also isn’t a defensive fighter, so it likely won’t help Khan any by spending more time with him. Roach has made a name by training guys that were already good when they went to Roach, guys like Manny Pacquiao, Chavez Jr., and James Toney. Khan needs help in the defensive department and he might be wasting his time even if he did get Roach to be there whenever he needs him.

Khan may end up dumping Roach but still have the same problems as he does now. Khan probably always was going to have issues when he finally faced someone like Danny Garcia, because he can punch. If you look at the guys that Khan has been matched against, he’s for the most part been put in with guys that don’t have a lot of power. The only guys Khan faced with any power during his career were Breidis Prescott, Marcos Maidana, Garcia and Zab Judah.

Prescott and Garcia knocked Khan out, and you can make a strong argument that Maidana would have knocked Khan out as well had the referee working that fight not interrupted the action so many times when Khan was getting pounded in the 10th round after being badly staggered. Judah looked too time to even let his hands go against Khan, but if he had we might have seen another knockout loss for Khan.

Roach isn’t going to be able to always devote uninterrupted time for Khan because Roach is now juggling tons of other fighters that help bring in a lot of money for him collectively. Roach probably isn’t going to let that money go by spending more time with a fighter that could be a knockout away from finding himself as a 2nd tier fighter. Roach has to prioritize his commitments by spending his time with the contenders/prospects/champions that are going somewhere in the sport, and right now Khan is on shaky legs after losing his last two fights.



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