Freddie Roach: I Want Maidana Next

Roach: Khan Not Ducking Anyone
Freddie Roach has never had the reputation as a trainer who looks to get his fighters the softest opponent available, so the idea that he is trying to do that with junior welterweight champion Amir Khan is simply not true, Roach said Wednesday during an interview from his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif.


In a division that includes the likes of Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, Khan will be taking on light-hitting Paulie Malignaggi on May 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It will be the first U.S. start for England's Khan, who has fought exclusively in the United Kingdom.
"The thing is the fight we wanted for his first fight in America, we thought we had a deal with (Juan Manuel) Marquez," Roach said. "That wasn't an easy guy, but Marquez turned us down. (Marquez trainer) Nacho Beristain felt he was being used as a steppingstone with Amir. I see it differently. I see it as we were giving Marquez
the chance to be the first Mexican to win titles in four weight classes. That is not an easy opponent.



"Is Maidana a better puncher? Probably, yes. But is he a better fighter? No, not in my opinion. We were going after a tough guy and then HBO made an offer for Paulie Malignaggi when the deal fell apart for the fight with Marquez."


Roach said that like Khan, fighters like Bradley, Alexander and Maidana have their own building up to do here in the States in order for a title unification fight with one of those three to bear monetary fruit. Which makes sense. Bradley and Alexander are from the U.S., but they are not quite household names. Bradley is getting there, Alexander is moving in that direction and Argentina's Maidana has only recently become a somewhat-known commodity.



"To fight the tough, tough fight for a little money would be foolish," Roach said. "We are going to have to fight the others and we are ready for that."


Roach wants Maidana for Khan soon.
"I want Maidana next because I know we can out-box him," Roach said. "(Andriy) Kotelnik out-boxed him and we killed Kotelnik."



Maidana lost a split decision to Kotelnik in February 2009 in Kotelnik's native Germany. Khan won a very wide decision over Kotelnik last July in England.
Besides, Roach said, it's not like Malignaggi is chopped liver, his reputation as a light-hitter notwithstanding.
"I don't see that as ducking with his first fight here against Paulie," Roach said. "He's a world champion. How much tougher was he supposed to go against?"


Roach did agree that of the four - Bradley, Alexander, Maidana and Malignaggi - Malignaggi seems to be the easiest opponent.
"But he is a champion," Roach reiterated.
Malignaggi is not a world champion anymore, but only because he relinquished his belt ahead of his November 2008 fight with Ricky Hatton. Malignaggi showed in his two fights against Juan Diaz that he is a tough nut to crack. He lost a controversial unanimous decision to Diaz last August, then came back and won a unanimous decision over Diaz in December.



Khan Has Pacquiao Work Ethic

Roach said that not only is the 5-foot-10 Khan a terrific athlete, he is very devoted to his craft.
"He has Pacquiao-like dedication," said Roach, who changed Manny Pacquiao from a wild-swinging brawler to a refined power boxer.
Roach took over in Khan's corner after Khan (22-1, 16 KOs) suffered his only loss, a first-round knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott in September 2008 in England. Khan is 4-0 with two knockouts under Roach's guidance. In their third fight together, Khan won his junior welterweight world title with the aforementioned victory over Kotelnik.
Roach said that when he took over, he noticed Khan still had some amateurish tendencies that had to go. Roach said the reason Khan got knocked out by Prescott is because his former handlers had him on a weight-training program designed to build upper body strength.
"He was looking for knockouts and he got caught doing that," Roach said.
Roach said his plan has been to take some of the weight off Khan's upper body and move it down to his legs.
"I think the weights slowed him down a little bit and his best asset is his speed," Roach said. "He has great speed. We're not just working on one thing, we're working on his whole game and changing him to a complete fighter. He is in a really tough division right now. Good punchers, good boxers. He needs to get better and better because the opposition is going to be stiff.
"The thing about Amir is, he learns quickly, responds very quickly. He is a very good student."
Just like Pacquiao.


Too bad the Khan/Maidana fight won't happen in the next 2 fights or so since there is a 3 fight clause that Maidana has to fight 3 other fighters first. But maybe that will change?

 

Easy options?

Since when are Malignaggi and Maidana 'easy options'?. I assume the 'hard options' are Bradley/Alexander? Well go say that to the rest of the divisions that don't have unified titles either!

 

Alexander not a hard hitter? He just knocked out Juan Urango (who had never been knocked out before) Alexander has some serious power.