Khans improvement under Virgil

Same ol'e Khan except i was impressed with his inside fighting, looks like he learned something. Otherwise same Khan "acting" as if he is smarter and a better boxer.

One habit that needs serious fixing is proper use of his guard. has 2(maybe more but i can't remember them right now) problems with his guard.
1. When he shells up he protects his face, and that's it, there are huge openings on the sides that every opponent sees, this is an issue he has had for awhile. he should stop leaning into the opponent and giving them a free target.
2. On the outside, he holds his hands like he is ready to parry something, but he never does, instead he just uses his legs to dash away, whenever a fast opponent leads on him they can land should he not be peaked mentally to dash away, and if they are fast enough to catch up with him he'll also get tagged.

Still same Khan in the sense that he does not seem to know when to attack
And also i don't believe he knows how to properly utilize the new stance(extended lead hand) Virgil Hunter has given to him
Also didn't get the point of hunting Molina down with a sort of desperation to land his jabs, a jab is meant to keep an opponent at bay, to open up your offence or to make an opponent reset, he seemed to chase Molina down with it and looked to use like a scoring punch(which it can be, but that is not when it is at it's best)


Anyway, the improvements
+Inside fighting

I only vaguely remember the Malignaggi fight, but i think in that fight he fought at basically the same tempo and in a composed manner, he actually looked like a better boxer too with his counter-punching.

 

mannn hush you're prob a canelo fan who's fought nothing but bums.. don't ever complain about khan picking a soft opponent because he's had one of the toughest schedules in boxing out of any boxer over the past 3 years.

 

the funny thing about this thread is that all these people seeing all these so called improvements will just make up some dumb excuse when khan fights a legit opponent and gets koed again. its been happening since he stepped up to the world stage and still they refuse to come to terms with it.

 

I know its sad isnt it....

 

I noticed that too. It looked quite awkward -- at times he was really lunging forward trying to land jabs and leaning in too much. Throughout the whole fight I kept thinking something like: 'Just stop moving in so much, you're still throwing too many shots and being too aggressive.' Khan is the bigger man and he has a decent jab when he uses it in a more relaxed way -- why does he need to rush forward and constantly attack? He should have let Molina come to him and pick him off with the jab like that, rather than reaching in and risking counters. I really didn't see the need to unload so many combinations either.

Khan did look better when it came to infighting, especially with those uppercuts, and he was a bit more patient and wary than before. He still has a long way to go, though. He really needs to find a way to avoid getting caught with counter hooks while he's throwing. I'd also like to see him going for a quality over quantity approach -- making each shot count and placing it carefully, rather than jumping in and throwing five shots while leaving himself open. He doesn't need to do that.

 

I think the real funny thing about this thread is the lack of objective posts. Instead we get the same tiresome bull**** of "he'll get KO'd again soon" and "His opponent was ****" etc. I cannot say im a Khan fan, in fact i cannot stand the guy but the subtle improvements to his game were so plain to see i'd suggest you start watching a new sport if you couldnt see them. His opponent was picked so he could exhibit a few of the skills that hes picked up in the very short time he's been with Hunter, nothing wrong with that. I have not seen anyone (barring the same 1 or 2) claim he's going to clear out the division or decimate Mayweather on anything ridiculous like that. You touch upon the subject of legit opponents, is Zab Judah not legit?, is Maidana not legit? they can certainly thump hard yet he prevailed did he not?. At the very least he's trying to get back to the top, it may well end in tears but not for a lack of trying and certainly not for a lack of heart.

****, certainly didnt think id be someone defending Khan...

 

There is genuine hate on ESB for Khan... some of it is warranted but sometimes it's just for the hell of it. I'm a Khan fan but I accept and understand his limitations as a fighter. And when he talks **** I call it ****, he's too arrogant for my liking as well but he is what he is.

Some are like he looked exactly the same as beforelast night lol. He was different and that's a fact, obviously the tougher the opponent the harder it's going to get for him and it remains to be seen if he can perfect his new new style and use it to overcome those tough times ahead against the big names (Rios, Garcia, Mattyhse, etc.). But no one can deny that he showed that he's changed something and it's a step in the right direction. Also, no one can say he can or can't be the best, only time will tell.

 

ive watched boxing long enough (about 35 years) to understand how fighting a lesser opponent can give the ilusion of skill that isnt really there and a better fighter will make that fact abundantly clear. zab and maidana are at about the level that khan is due to their own limitations so a fight between them has a chance to go either way, none of those three will ever be the man at 140. if your hopes for khan are for him to reach gatekeeper status then those wins are very legit, if you want him to be the best at 140, then you are going to get your feelings hurt.

 

A lot of experts here on ESB.. a lot of them should be boxing trainers and consultants....

 

I think it will be easier to assess Amir's improvements after he gets caught by a Garcia left hook. My bet is that he will start doing the samba dance again.

 

With all due respect it's a public forum where people come to discuss boxing.
Yes,many opinions are unreasonable and closed to subjectivity,but that's just how it's always going to be.

 

But i didnt state that Zab or Maidana would ever be the man at 140lbs, they were merely examples of legit opponents that Khan has defeated as opposed to being stopped by. As ive already stated im not really a fan of Khan's and i personally believe he's going to struggle to get back to where he was, punch resistance is something that is extremely difficult to improve. Khan in 2 or 3 fights could improve loads but still be undone due to that one massive weakness. I disagree about the illusion of improvement though, the fact he was following a gameplan and not going absolute nuts in there could even be counted as improvement. The question i feel is if he can maintain that improvement as his confidence grows again.

 

Stopped reading right there. You can now comfortably log the **** off and never return.

 

When he was with Roach i think he peaked and then started to become complacent, too confident and paid the price. It will be interesting if he can maintain himself at a high level or if he will fall into the same habits once his confidence returns. Unfortunately i lean towards the latter.:good

 

i feel that the only reason khan was able to maintain a game plan was because his opponent could do nothing to disrupt his plan, and even then khan had trouble remembering how he was suppose to be fighting. there was no real improvement, put a heavy bag in front of me and my technique is awesome, put a real fighter in front of me and i am full of mistakes. it is easy to keep it all together when there is little chance of geting hurt, its a whole different ball game when youre geting hit hard enough to see stars.