I noticed Khans overall defense was lacking when he fought Maidana especially when he started backing up against the ropes he was eating endless uppercuts and not doing anything to block or counter them except maintain his high guard, only when Maidana would take a breath did it seem Khan would move away. Whilst Morales a fighter not known for his defensive skills just seemed to keep a high guard when in the middle of the ring but when on the ropes he seemed to adopt an almost shoulder roll styled defense where he would weave and duck and use lateral movement to avoid most of Maidana's poweshots. Question is why wasn't Khan doing more to avoid Maidanas power? I thought it would have been part of the gameplan with Freddie Roach :think
I think it was probably a little bit of inexperience and a little bit bravado, he went into the ring that night to prove the world wrong about his chin.:good
khan tends to stiffen up i notice in fights and has very little head movement morales was loose moving his head and body brilliantly on the ropes to miss alot of shots khan can still learn this but alot of times you have to risk lowering your hands to do what morales did and with khans chin maybe they think its safer to just have the high guard
Khan is still green. Morales showed his craft in that fight... the sort of craft that comes with years of fighting at an elite level.
This. Morales used many veteran moves, turning his body slightly when inside, bouncing off the ropes to dodge shots, pushing his head into Maidana's chest etc. Was a bit of a defensive masterclass. Unfortunately Khan's defence is poor.
Khan didn't seem to try to defend or fight on the inside against Maidana later on in the fight and that is where his problems began. Khan can be brilliant on the outside but he needs a lot of work on his inside game.
Aside from thinngs already mentioned, Morales was consistently closer than Maidana's effective punching range. Very clever I thought. I've not seen Khan ever fight on the inside like that, for Morales it seemed natural. It's all about experience.
I not sure how you can compare the two. Morales EVT12 Maidana & Maidana EVT12 Khan were very different fights. Personally, as impressive as Maidiana was against Khan Eric's performance was far better.
this it was as easy as breathing for morales, he knew exactly what to do, khan hasn't been in as many wars.
Khan's defense at the minute is the highguard, that is virtually it. He should develop that over time.
It's as simple as this, Morales knows how to fight on the inside and Khan doesn't. In fact, none of Roach's fighters are really known for close quarter combat. Only one who was really any good at it was Toney who was already a skilled master on the inside before he ever worked alongside Freddie.
