Amir Khan -- Return to Grace

To start with, let me clear something up:

1) Yes, Khan has a bad chin. Impossible to deny this after seeing him get badly clocked by Limond, Gomez and utterly brutalised by Prescott (although, to be fair, this last one was a genuine power puncher).

2) I liked Khan during the olympics, and slowly grew to dislike him over the course of his pro career. I admired his fencing-like boxing in the olympics and disdained his sloppy, overly aggressive style in the pros.

Now to get to the point.

Khan can no longer be regarded as a farce around here. Tonight I saw him finally returning to the strengths that showed so clearly in his amateur days. His speed is obviously his main weapon, and in terms of handspeed, he's one of the quickest pro fighters in the world today. He can hang with people like Pac and Mayweather in the speed department. This isn't what impressed me, though -- we all knew Khan had speed. Speed alone doesn't make a great fighter; just look at the superbly talented but constantly failing Judah for a recent example.

In this fight, Khan showed:

- Much, much better footwork. In his very worst fight (the crushing defeat to Prescott) he stupidly stood toe-to-toe and tried to slug. In this fight, he showed the same movement that enabled him to keep up with the brilliant Kindelan in the olympics -- he circled most of the time, and he showed us that he can fight off the back foot as well as the front foot.

- He clinched when up close. At times he got a little too sloppy and his attempt to clinch got him punched once or twice, but he tied up effectively at various other points. He's showing more intelligence than before, neutralising his man on the inside. This is a good first step to dealing with determined infighters -- just look at what Holyfield was able to do to Tyson with well-timed clinches.

- His stamina was lovely. He went the full 12 rounds and was able to keep up a high workrate for nearly every single one. He obviously put a lot of effort into conditioning.

- He goes to the body much more effectively now. I saw him mixing it up with head attacks, he would distract Kotelnik with a few shots up top, and then shoot quick hooks to the body, right around the guard. He should have done this more, and I really like the fact that he isn't just a head-hunter. He's showing more patience, showing that he knows how to break people down gradually and slow them.

- A greater emphasis on the jab. He jabbed again and again, and although it was blocked a lot, it kept Kotelnik from closing the distance. It kept him busy and distracted, breaking his rythm. I'm of the opinion that the jab is the MOST important punch in boxing, and I'm thus glad to see Khan using it so much now.

- High, tight guard. He dropped it once or twice and leaned back to avoid punches, which is dangerous, but hopefully this habit will be erased with more time spent with Roach.

- He listened to Roach's instructions, and showed respect to him after the fight. A bond between the trainer and his fighter is essential for a good fighter -- it's like the ribbon tying up the whole package. Remember what happened to Hamed during/after the Ingle disaster? Khan and Roach seem to trust one another, and this bodes well.

Now, make no mistake, Khan didn't look AMAZING -- he got clipped with a few punches that he should have neutralised, and a lot of his punches were blocked. That being said, the point is that he's really showing huge improvements. This guy is no joke, regardless of his chin. I respect him for coming back after a horrible knockout loss and genuinely becoming better in nearly every department.

Congrats to Khan.

 

Trolls -- even ones as dull as him -- thrive on attention. Best to deny him it.

I agree that it was a good performance. Certainly not brilliant, but definitely good.