Khan - Taking his own medicine

How will his punch resistance improve ?

He will go up in weight and those lads hit even harder. If he can't take shots from guys who are not even fully fledged LW's how will he copy with punches from boxers with a lot more power ?

It is his chin but his lack of defense makes the problem worse.

 

You dont go 12 rounds with David Tua and have a weak chin.

 

He had an average jaw: stunned by Briggs and sparked by McCall and Rahman with one shot...can't see the latter happening to Ali, Tyson, Foreman or Holmes...

That being said, he took some big bombs from Tua, Tyson(in the first round) and Mercer to name but a few and remained up right...

I've never went along with the view that he has a glass jaw...but it sure as hell wasn't granite.

An average jaw for me.

 

exactly

 

Getting hit doesn't mean you have a weak chin.

Getting hit hard and coming back to win definitely doesn't mean you've got a weak chin.

 

Khan getting knocked down by two guys who mainly competed in a weight division lower - one a light hitter (Limond) and the other past his prime (Gomez) indicates a weak chin.

 

I think he has an average chin - probably one of a featherweight really.

Basically, if he is serious about becoming a three weight world champion you shouldn't be getting decked twice in eighteen fights, against what are undoubtedly handpicked opponents.

 

:good

I agree entirely with this. Khan should not be getting caught with the type of shot that Gomez landed. Hopefully a top american trainer can improve his defence and as such let Khan realise the potential that he has.

At the moment though, with his defence the way it is, Khan would be stopped by any top 10 LW

 

Khan's chin and punch resistance will improve as he grows older. Facial bones (and all) get harder and sturdier with age. Bones keep getting stronger well into the 30s and Khan is just 21. Also the more he gets hit, the stronger his chin will become as long as the punches don't damage his jaws and cheek bones. Regular sessions of controlled punching around his face by a light hitter during sparring/practises will also improve his chin.

That said Khan's defence is his biggest woes. Without reliable defence skills to match every styles of boxing, he has no chance of surviving against the big hitters. He also needs some psychological training on how to react after being hit and hurt. He gets clueless once he gets hit. He needs to learn to quickly adjust himself after getting a hard blow. Got to learn the art of clinching, throwing harder punches during clinches, limiting wasteful slaps. Got to strengthen his legs as well.

So many flaws but most of them could be overcome with a disciplined and tough training regime. Khan thinks he does the best preparation with what is given to him. But there are so many things he could add to his training sessions.

 

It's a difficult one. Lewis showed he had good punch resistance on many occasions. The Rahman & McCall fights were just two massive bombs & to be fair he was up against McCall & should have been allowed to continue considering it was a world title fight.

 

Lewis's chin was good at worst. You don't take bombs from Tyson, Tua and even Vitali with a weak chin. It never fails to amaze me people don't realise that. Lewis got hit more than people think.

 

The Gomez punch was mainly due to his clumsy defence, which is what, as everyone correctly suggests, he should really work hard on. It was a strong, clean hit and most would at least get shook if not taken down, like Khan was.

 

I completely disagree about him having a totally glass chin it was a fair old shot gomez caught him with!!!, i think khans problem is that he simply doesnt expect to be getting caught flush and is not ready for the shot, and as we know the shots you arent expecting seem to hurt the most and can cause a KD so its his defense thats at fault imo. A previous poster got it spot on that even a feather fisted opponent can deck you if the shot is timed right. And wtf is feather fisted anyway, i seriously doubt theres many pro boxers about that cant dig when they need to. And lets face it, khans opponents are probably more fired up than their previous fights at the opportunity of being the 1st to crush his dreams.

 

why does it require a top american trainer to teach khan such basics?

i'm turning cold on the idea of khan getting an american trainer unless he bases himself out there which i don't think he'll do. he needs someone he can work with on a near-daily basis.

i won't be suprised if he sticks with powell

 

Strange, but I hardly remember Tua laying a glove on Lennox (although I'm sure he did). Just shows how time taints the memories. I seem to remember the consumate boxer keeping Tua at arms length th whole fight and fiddling (wrong word, I don't mean he cheated or anything derogatory) his way to a victory which impressed the purists, but had Joe Public criticising that ***** cat of a Heavyweight. For the record I was in th former camp. Very impressive and intelligent use of the tools required to negate a dangerous challenger by a champion who still doesn't get his due from many quarters.