IronBull
10-27-2008, 01:33 PM
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Freddie Roach has told Amir Khan that to fulfil his potential in the ring he needs to stop looking to knock opponents out.
Speaking to ESPN's Dan Rafael, who insists that Khan will not fight on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao bill on December 6, Roach admitted to being impressed with how Khan has acquitted himself in his Hollywood Gym.
Khan moved to Roach after demoting Cuban trainer Jorge Rubio to the role of assistant following the disastrous one-round knockout defeat to Breidis Prescott in September.
The American trainer insists the biggest thing he is impressing upon Khan is caution.
"Amir sparred for the first time the other day," Roach said. "He went four rounds and he did really well. He's got a lot of tools and is unbelievably fast.
"I think the biggest thing with Amir is he just needs not to look for the knockout. That's when he gets a little lazy and forgets about defense. We need to fix that."
Roach disclosed that Pacquiao and Khan have already been training together and revealed that the Bolton fighter will spar with the pound-for-pound number one next week.
"Amir will spar with Manny before we're done," Roach added. "He's faster than Oscar, tall like Oscar and will give Manny a good look.
"He'll spar with Manny and he will be tested. It will be good for Amir and good for Manny.
"They've been running together in the morning and they're getting along just fine.
"They push each other, so it's a great situation, especially for Amir to see how the best trains. Amir is a talented kid; his work ethic is really good.
"This was Amir's first week of sparring, so we'll let him get his feet wet first before he goes in with Manny. But I'll use them with each other next week."
Khan has already been sparring with unbeaten Irish light welterweight Dean Byrne (9-0, 3 KOs) who is based in California.
Freddie Roach has told Amir Khan that to fulfil his potential in the ring he needs to stop looking to knock opponents out.
Speaking to ESPN's Dan Rafael, who insists that Khan will not fight on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao bill on December 6, Roach admitted to being impressed with how Khan has acquitted himself in his Hollywood Gym.
Khan moved to Roach after demoting Cuban trainer Jorge Rubio to the role of assistant following the disastrous one-round knockout defeat to Breidis Prescott in September.
The American trainer insists the biggest thing he is impressing upon Khan is caution.
"Amir sparred for the first time the other day," Roach said. "He went four rounds and he did really well. He's got a lot of tools and is unbelievably fast.
"I think the biggest thing with Amir is he just needs not to look for the knockout. That's when he gets a little lazy and forgets about defense. We need to fix that."
Roach disclosed that Pacquiao and Khan have already been training together and revealed that the Bolton fighter will spar with the pound-for-pound number one next week.
"Amir will spar with Manny before we're done," Roach added. "He's faster than Oscar, tall like Oscar and will give Manny a good look.
"He'll spar with Manny and he will be tested. It will be good for Amir and good for Manny.
"They've been running together in the morning and they're getting along just fine.
"They push each other, so it's a great situation, especially for Amir to see how the best trains. Amir is a talented kid; his work ethic is really good.
"This was Amir's first week of sparring, so we'll let him get his feet wet first before he goes in with Manny. But I'll use them with each other next week."
Khan has already been sparring with unbeaten Irish light welterweight Dean Byrne (9-0, 3 KOs) who is based in California.