From seeing him doing a semi chicken dance from a jab from Prescott and then getting demolished moments later and watching a few other fights my opinion on him was that he was a very talented boxer with fast hands that liked to brawl when he got tagged instead of stepping out of the pocket and regrouping or tying up his opponent which I though was crazy with his lack of whiskers. I figured his career would not go to far once he stepped up to b level competition only due to his chin but after watching him in the ring with Maidana I was absolutely dumbfounded to see him take some really good shots from him and not get knocked out!!! Maidana's power is no product of tomato cans like alot of boxers power is. I'm still shocked that Khan took those shots and never fell, makes me wonder if he can take a huge puncher's shots then why could he not take a jab from Prescott or punches from some of the light hitters that put him on the canvas in some of his previous fights? Is it a product of Roach getting him to believe in his self and getting him in great shape? I've read many times on here by many different people that you can't improve your chin.
To be fair to him, his big weakness has always been getting hit on the temple. He gets caught clean there and you see those chicken legs. This even goes back to his amateur days. I think his ability to absorb a better shot is the product of a number of things. One that is put about, especially by Khan, is that he struggled to get down to 135 and that was reflected in his punch resistance at the weight. If this is true then it's certainly a legitimate excuse - we don't have to look any further than Cotto to see the effect that being weight drained can have on your cheeeeen. There are also a couple of more observable things that have helped. Alex Ariza completely changed Khans body shape. When you look at pre-Roach pics of Khan he was very top heavy, much bigger above the waist in his chest and shoulders. Ariza took a lot of this weight off and built up his legs, meaning he had a more solid foundation. Roach has made him far more defensively aware. Against Prescott he put his head down and traded bombs with a puncher - foolish thing to do no matter how good your chin is. Now he is a lot more careful meaning that he is able to see most of the punches coming. This gives him the advantage of being able to brace himself to get hit, and also allows him to roll with the punches, taking a lot of the impact off of them. That shot that hurt him against Maidana was a big looping hook that came right of left field, meaning that his feet wasn't planted, he was off balance and unable to prepare for the shot - and we all saw what happened. I still feel he'll be vulnerable to a bit shot that he doesn't see, no matter what stage of the fight - but it just means he's more exciting to watch for me. Even if he does get tagged and hurt bad, the boy hasn't got an ounce of quit in him.
You can improve your chin... certain exercises/ regiments and a lot of confidence boosters can get it done.. and when I say confidence boosters.. I don't mean PEDs
