Ricky Hatton on Khan/Peterson 'Best Man Won'

Lets be honest, what Khan was doing although it was technically illegal, was fairly innocuous and you rarely see penalised with one deduction, let lone two and one in the final minute or so of a very close fight. The problem was he was just so blatant with it. He had no idea how to be sly, do it on the blind side of the ref. keep him off without giving off a big "get away from me" type of vibe. And you're right, not knowing how to clinch was a big part of that.

Every fighter has those little tricks. I have applauded fighters like Hopkins for being tricky, hitting on blindside of the ref, hitting you on the hips etc.

George Foreman, Tommy Hearns, Andre Ward, Tito Trinidad etc. have all made careers out of 'pushing off'. Floyd uses the elbow in your throat when you get too close, he also uses what's called the hip crush.

There have been a plethora of fighters who held like crazy, mauled, clinched etc.

Khan just didn't know how to conceal it, he was looking at the ref drawing attention to himself, making it so obvious. Lack of IQ and ring generalship. FFS, settle down, take a step back and pivot to the side. Stop jumping around.

 

I don't put much stock in Khan's interview comments. I get the impression that he's just trying to say whatever he thinks people want to hear and he comes out with all the usual generic, non-committal answers. His pre-fight interviews rarely give any insight into what he's really thinking although the same isn't necessarily true of his post-fight comments.

 

I agree with Hatton. Khan was more worried about the ref not helping him untangle them than the opponent.