Amir Khan's performance against Julio Diaz: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I've been watching Khan with interest for a while now. He slowly gained my respect as he climbed up the Jr Welterweight division and his style seemed to be developing nicely under Roach's tutelage. It's obvious that his flaws-tactical, technical, and emotional- eventually caught up to him and forced him to reevaluate his entire approach to boxing. The rebuilding process he's going through with Hunter is an intriguing experiment in what a trainer who can build a fighter like Andre Ward from the ground up can do with an already established but still young talent with a need for slight restructuring.

I wrote some of the subtle changes I observed in Khan's game from the Molina fight here:

http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?p=14417017#post14417017

Now, against Diaz:

The Good:

-Khan continues to demonstrate effective lateral movement. For most of the fight, he was deliberately (but efficiently) turning in circles and making it a point to avoid backing away from the center of the ring. There was a giant circular logo in the middle of the ring and that's where Khan preferred to stay, stepping into his jab as he turned.

-He's throwing a sharp right hand a bit more often. It's still underdeveloped, but it's coming out straight and quick and with intention every so often.

-Khan's combinations were short but effective. He didn't throw in much volume, but his hook off the jab and 3-punch combinations were more accurate and thrown with balance, with less lunging going on.

-Using the lead hand as a distraction and as a buffer between him as an opponent works great. It naturally gets in the way of the right hand and measures the distance.

-He stands in a much more angled stance, with his head often dipping off-center after he throws, instead of being square on, which also helps with the next point.

-Khan was much better slipping and rolling with punches. A big critique I've had of him was that he was always too straight up. Here we saw more side-to-side head movement, and a smart pull away from behind the arm/shoulder with the lead hand low. Against the ropes he was showing some new-found slickness. Not a ton, but enough to make note of.

-He's making much wiser choices after getting hurt or dropped. He's not too ashamed to clinch, he's not throwing caution to the wind, he's not bouncing around throwing his hands up Pacquiao-style ready to exchange right away. In general, he's more patient, and Khan being able to "be boring" is a good thing.

The Bad:

-Khan reverted into his old habit of retreating without throwing. Virgil's philosophy seems to be to make anyone that dares get close to Khan pay before he restarts. Khan retreating without offering any return fire makes it much easier for the opponents to chase him down and cut the ring off. This is how he got hit so much against Peterson.

-Although he as patient for most of the fight, the late rounds is where he still showed a stubborn willingness to trade when hit with a good one. It was because he obliged Diaz by standing there that Diaz was able to land that vicious 3 punch combination.

-Khan would often throw well below shoulder level. Now this isn't uncommon for a taller fighter trying to reach a shorter man's head, but Khan has payed for this before against Maidana. Virgil's advice was spot on, telling him to punch at the target, but not from too high with his chin exposed.

-I would have liked to see more body work from Khan. He had a nice straight right to the body going against Molina. We've seen him throw uppercuts and hooks to the body before. There is risk involved and Khan did move in to throw some left hooks to the body, but it would have been smarter to invest more consistently early on. Head hunting makes Khan more predictable and thus more hittable.

The Ugly:

-The ****ing hands, holy **** Khan, KEEP THEM UP. His right hand was a bit better when jabbing than in the past, I'll admit, but he drops them far too often. That right hand especially. Always always always dropping. You'd think he did drills dropping the right hand as if it were some sort of beneficial technique. The more the fight went on, the more Khan's combinations became sloppy. He needs to be mindful about this the entire fight.

The most frustrating thing is that I don't remember it always being so damn obvious. He seemed more disciplined when worried about his opponent's speed. His guard and punching form seemed much more responsible against Paulie and Judah. That might just be because they weren't able to get any leverage capitalize on the holes in his game, but they were certainly capable veteran counter-punchers.



In summation, Khan still needs work, but it's not over yet. The tactical improvements are there, but Khan needs to continue his technical improvements, and by that I mean tightening up his form. Tape that right glove to the chin and do drills all day like that. Do more of those mitt exercises in which Virgil throws shots in between Khan's for him to anticipate and block without dropping his hands. If he's willing, he can change. He's still a few years from 30, is slowly implementing Virgil's adjustments, and at his core is still the guy who dominated Paulie and Judah and Kotelnik and Maidana. I'm not sure he's ready for a world title shot like Schaefer has just recently put forth, but I think he'll be ready at some point.


Discuss:bbb

 

Yeah, after the Molina fight I noted that he doesn't discriminate between punches. It's either throwing a 4-punch right-left-right-left combo and then pulling out, or just not throwing. It's like he operates on the hands of a clock and can't see & split up the mili-seconds in between the ticks.

However this is something I think he's been improving on a bit too. Part of cutting down his volume was increasing his accuracy. He finished up on that left hook pretty good and flush during his combos. It was real bad against McCloskey.

I want this Khan back. The poise, the long-range calculation. Not perfect but less oblivious to return fire and more selective with the offense.

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3 years boxing and having watched a shitload of fights?

He has the same technical flaws but is making tactically wiser choices. Except when he doesn't. He needs to know when to let his hands go and when to take a step back. In this fight he got tagged because he stood and traded once, and also got tagged because he retreated negatively without offering anything.

That KD was definitely a flash knockdown, he was in such a weird position.

I agree that the best thing to do is prevent the shots from landing on him in the first place. Playing emergency recoup every fight is not a sound way to approach a career.

He's been very stiff overall. His upper body movement in this fight was a bit of an improvement in that area.

 

Agreed. I want that potential to be fulfilled, it would be a shame for him to just fizzle out and retire falling short of his goals. This was a good learning fight IMO. I like that his disposition after the fight was a bit disappointed. He needs to be a harsh self-critic and watch the tape and use that disappointment to fuel his improvements. A bit of home-town embarrassment can go a long way in the gym.