Khan: Offensively, I'm a good fighter. Defensively, I'm one of the worst fighters"

[Lazarus]

"Already I see a big difference in my defense, especially sparring with the sparring partners I have, like Karim Mayfield, Mike Dallas, and a couple of other guys I have. I've sparred with some good sparring partners for this fight; better than the fighter [Carlos Molina] really I believe. Like I said, it's just going to be a different ball game when we get in the fight

I thought that's one thing that I need to work on. Offensively, I'm a good fighter. Defensively, I'm one of the worst fighters. I'm my own critic. I criticize myself, so I think I need to work on that. If you look at the past couple of fights, in Freddie's gym, we still kept doing the same things. We never really worked on defense, but maybe things were going right and that's why. I just needed a change I think. The change was to go somewhere different and have someone else telling me what to do and what not to do. It's always good to make a change I think. I mean, Freddie made me a 2-time world champion. I won the WBA and I also won the IBF, so he's done a lot for me in my career. I think with Virgil, I think he can take me to that next level now."

Full interview is down @ FightH. A very good interview, and again is acknowledging his flaws more than he has before.

[pathmanc1986]

I think when Khan matures as a man and accepts who and what he is as a fighter, he'l be massively improved.

He may not be in many FOTY after that, but he wont be out of the sport either

[JFT96]

Hopefully, it won't be a case against Molina of us having to see if he's improved defensively or not. The opponent is there for him to dominate and rebuild confidence, not to show off any new defensive techniques.

The next test should be the fight after Molina. It will be interesting to see where he goes and what we can find out about him now he's joined Hunter.

[Dai]

He's gone to one of the best trainers in the game.

If he listens to Virgil and works hard to improve, he can do a lot

[widdy]

if we dig out interviews when he joined roach after presscott he said the same things.

nothing new here laz,why post the same thing ?

[widdy]

Originally Posted by Dai

He's gone to one of the best trainers in the game.

If he listens to Virgil and works hard to improve, he can do a lot

see above,same things said when he joined roach

[SouthpawSlayer]

And rubio

[PaulieMc]

Glad to see Khan being honest and saying something sensible for a change. Normally it's "I'm a superstar this" and "it wasn't my fault I lost" that.

[Bill C84]

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[craney91]

If he cant change under Virgils watch, he'll never do it.

I know Freddie Krueger is not the trainer he was, simply because of the parkinsons. But I dont think all the blame for Khans failings should sit at the door of Freddie Roach. Khan is his own worst enemy, he doesnt fight with common sense, he never has, and I dont know if even Virgil can train common sense, I think its on Khan to wake up and start using common sense, Virgil can only improve Khan as a fighter, buts its not the fight thats the problem, its Khans brain, and only Khan can change that.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by widdy

if we dig out interviews when he joined roach after presscott he said the same things.

nothing new here laz,why post the same thing ?

Uh, no he didn't. He was nowhere near as acknowledging of his own mistakes as he is now.

[Moe]

Fair play to him...

Just needs to start using his head and he'll do well...

[widdy]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Uh, no he didn't. He was nowhere near as acknowledging of his own mistakes as he is now.

erm yes he was, and what do you mean 'no where near' so he was,but just a ikkle bit ,he was the same,admit it laz.
khan will not change,he boxed the same way all way through his career,it just works against some fighters but not all.
ive said all along,he is good,but not THAT good. hunter is just a trainer,not a miracle worker. remember,its the fighter what makes the trainer

[Darni187]

Heard the other day this Molina fight is a 10 rounder.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by widdy

erm yes he was, and what do you mean 'no where near' so he was,but just a ikkle bit ,he was the same,admit it laz.
khan will not change,he boxed the same way all way through his career,it just works against some fighters but not all.
ive said all along,he is good,but not THAT good. hunter is just a trainer,not a miracle worker. remember,its the fighter what makes the trainer

Yes, nowhere near, meaning he didn't acknowledge his flaws in an honest manner and mentioned how he really needs to improve on them. His thought of improvement was probably in other things, and not so much defence, or maybe as he has said, he wasn't learning newer defensive skills from Freddie, and there is substance in that - just look at Manny.

Despite his losses, I've seen significant improvement in his arsenal and even though it's been a little, he's defensively a lot better than he used to be back in the old days. Losing or getting knocked out doesn't always mean that the fighter hasn't improved.

Well I think in Hunter's case, it's the trainer who makes the fighter. By the way, I'm not saying we're going to get some Khan 2.0, I just appreciate his honest assessment of himself, which he never used to be too smart on.