New Khan Interview: Pacman floored by Khan body punch...

...not true...:yep

http://www.***********.com/?m=show&id=27101

By Terence Dooley, part one of a two part series

Alicia Keys, singing about her hometown of New York in Empire State of Mind, claimed that the ‘The Big Apple’s’ ‘Big lights will inspire you’; Bolton’s Amir Khan hopes to light up the city and inspire faith in his ability amongst the US fans when defending his WBA light-welterweight title against Brooklyn’s Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden on May the 15th.

Khan makes his US debut on the HBO-televised bill, the 23-year-old is eschewing the ‘Blackpool on crack neon glare’ of Las Vegas in order to put himself on show before the toughest, and most knowledgeable, fight crowd in the USA. Boxers go to Vegas for the money and fame, to New York for the appreciation and acclaim, with Khan, 22-1 (16 early), relishing the upcoming challenge.

“It is going to be tough because I’m fighting a guy from New York, he will come into the fight thinking he’s got the New York fans onside so will see that as an advantage,” claimed Khan when talking exclusively to ***********.com.

“I like going into people’s backyard, that is the type of fighter I am, and I will go over there to win. It is better to beat someone in their backyard than it is to beat them at home. To be honest with you, Malignaggi thinks he has all the support but I went to the press conference in New York and the fans were telling me that they want me to knock Paulie Malignaggi out and shut his mouth, they said he’s arrogant and they don’t like him, his own people think I’ll do a job on him.”

The Garden has maintained its unique identity across four incarnations; boxing’s best, and toughest, fighters have graced the ring. Indeed, some of British boxing brightest stars, such as Naseem Hamed, Lennox Lewis, Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe, have posted wins in the MSG arena. Khan, though, is not fazed by the prospect of putting himself on display in this high-profile shop window.

“I’m excited to be fighting at Madison Square Garden, it has always been a dream of mine and if you look at the fights in the past then they were all happening at Madison Square Garden. Things have changed and people go to Vegas now but I want to go to New York and make a little piece of history,” revealed the 2004 Olympic silver medallist.

“I’m not taking it easy, I’m picking this fight and this venue to prove myself to the boxing people. Paulie is a big name in America and he is coming off a big win over [Juan] Diaz. Another good thing about Paulie Malignaggi is that he can sell a fight, he talks a lot and I need someone like that to get me a name in America. Paulie talks a lot of trash and a lot of people want to see him get beat. No one has done a proper job on him so I want to be the first person to do a proper job on him; he’ll be hanging his gloves up after this fight.”

Khan, though, would have to go some to improve on Ricky Hatton’s win over Malignaggi, ‘The Hitman’ bowed Paulie early, dominating the fight from the second round onwards, prompting Paulie’s then-trainer, Buddy McGirt, to throw in the towel at 0:48 of the eleventh stanza. Hatton’s inside-the-distance win leaves Khan with only one objective.

“Any fight you go into you want to put a good performance on and do a proper job on the guy, and that is what I’ll do”, he declared, “Ricky stopped him in the eleventh but I want to finish him off cleanly so there are no excuses. I want him to come out and say I beat him fair and square. I’ve got the right trainer in Freddie Roach, the skills, and have been getting the right sparring against guys who are better than Paulie Malignaggi. I’ve been doing really well in sparring.

“Freddie is really happy, he sees a big change in my style since the last fight and we’re all really confident. If you think about it, I was a guy who used to go in and fight with my heart, not using my technique even though I’m a very technical fighter – I wasn’t using my brain. Now I’m a better fighter, am using my brain, and I think about a fight shot-by-shot.

“I hit-and-move, don’t jump in with shots, and build my attacks properly. I still know that the heart is there and I can use it when I need it in a fight. I use my brain, my speed, and my power at the right time now – my patience is now a big thing.”

Certainly, Khan’s early fights showcased his blistering speed but there was also a scatterbrained air to his attacks during those formative years in the lightweight division. Khan would often whale away in the early days, punching from the elbows to force the intervention of the referee. However, Khan really sat on his punches during his last fight, that 1:16 minute win over Dmitry Salita, turning into shots and looking a puncher at the heavier poundage.

“That’s right”, said Khan when asked about his earlier stoppages, “the power wasn’t there but I can now see the difference in my power and speed, it makes a big difference. All these things come with experience, I’m now at the Wildcard, am older, have more fights, and have picked things up.”

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“We’ve had some wars when we first sparred and maybe there were times when he wanted to go on the floor (laughs). Nah, our spars were two years ago when I first went there after the [Breidis Prescott] loss so I’d like to spar him again to see how far I’ve come. If you look at Youtube you can see a video of when we sparred, and that session on Youtube was me on a bad day.”

Khan was keen to stress that he was facing better fighters than Malignaggi everyday in the gym. “I’m sparring good lads, up-and-coming guys who are stronger and hit harder than Malignaggi, they also have a higher workrate and more heart than Paulie,” blasted Khan.

“I’m doing well against these guys, hurting them, and they can see that my style has changed, that I’m hitting harder and picking my shots. If I go into the fight feeling like this then I don’t think Paulie will last more than a few rounds.

“Not only that, you are in the Wildcard Gym and you’ve got Freddie Roach watching you so these guys have a lot to prove. I have open training sessions, the people watch me spar and everything stops. You’ve got a hundred people watching you and these guys don’t want a hundred people to see them getting beaten up, they want to beat me up! My sparring partners treat it like a proper fight. They know I want hard sparring and for it to be like a fight.”

Many British boxing observers, this writer included, have warmed to Malignaggi, 27-3 (5 stoppages) over the past few years. Sure, his impossibly brave points defeat to Miguel Cotto helped, Paulie fought through a broken cheekbone in that one, but the real turning point came when we saw the real Paulie Malignaggi reveal himself in Magic Man, a documentary about his turbulent early life. Consequently, us Brits greet his verbal outbursts with a wry smile before garnishing them with a pinch of salt.

Paulie, though, pushed the envelope when wondering out loud if there was any truth to the rumours about Manny Pacquiao and performance enhancing substances. Paulie, ever the philosopher, then speculated as to whether this claim could be extended to the rest of Roach’s stable if proven to be true about Manny. Paulie just happened to be talking into a microphone when pondering these theories; Khan, who was rumoured to be close to signing to fight Malignaggi, was left simmering over this perceived lack of respect and the fight itself was made shortly afterwards.

“I felt sorry for people like Freddie Roach and the other trainers. It disrespects the trainers as Freddie and [conditioning coach] Alex [Ariza] put a lot of work into the fights. The work we do is very, very hard – I don’t think any other fighters could do it,” stressed Khan when discussing the highly conjectural controversy that swirled around the proposed Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight.

“We’ve had upcoming boxers and champions come and do the training and runs that me and Manny do, they were dying and some have to give up as they can’t do it. I’ve seen people quit halfway through the sessions so it shows the intensity of what we do. How can people say we are on drugs or this and that?”

 

“We’ve had upcoming boxers and champions come and do the training and runs that me and Manny do, they were dying and some have to give up as they can’t do it. I’ve seen people quit halfway through the sessions so it shows the intensity of what we do. How can people say we are on drugs or this and that?”

Amir was keen to stress that the recent form of Pacquiao was down to dedication, hard work, and the training set-up at Roach’s gym, with claims to the contrary the result of the oldest of boxing’s ills – jealousy.

“I feel it is jealousy to be honest. I’m happy to do a drugs test anytime, wherever and whenever, just to prove to people like Paulie that we are just hard working fighters and don’t cheat in this sport. We work hard and Manny works harder than anyone. Not only is it disrespectful, some people actually believe that stuff and think we are taking drugs. You get asked the questions and people wonder if your success is for real. I’ve never taken drugs in my life and it is a stupid thing to put into people’s minds.”

“It is not bulk”, he reiterated when discussing his own physical development under Roach and Ariza, “we just train so hard that it develops our muscles and we have to get our energy and calories to put that muscle on, it is hard, natural training and the hardest thing I’ve ever done. When I hear people like Paulie say stuff like that it just makes me want to beat him up even more. Paulie is not a likeable person, people in America don’t like him and not only do I want to knock him out but the people of America want to see him knocked out.”

A win over Malignaggi would see Khan consolidate his current position; he feels he is in a similar position Naseem Hamed, Khan’s idol, was in when ‘The Prince’ had his US unveiling against the well respected, though aged, Kevin Kelley, who also hails from the Brooklyn area.

“Naseem went to New York when he fought for his first time in America and he became a big attraction – I hope I can go the same way as Naz. I hope the fans are excited to see me fight and hope to put a good performance on – I want it to be perfect,” revealed Khan.

However, should Khan’s in-ring performance mirror Naz’s MSG showcase against Kevin Kelly, in which Hamed was given three counts en route to a stirring fourth round victory, the vultures will come out as Paulie, with all the best will in the world, is not a puncher; the slightest sign of a wobble against Paulie will see Khan hit with the ‘chinny’ stick all over again.

“Yeah”, agreed Khan when musing over the vulnerabilities he showed earlier in his career, “but with the way the camp has gone with Freddie, and now I’m a totally different fighter, I don’t think I’ll be making any mistakes. With this being my American debut, I don’t just want to win the fight - I want it to be won in a good style so that people recognise me.

“We have worked on a lot of stuff like my own movement and the fact he’ll hold when he’s under pressure and hurt. I can’t say exactly what I’ll do in the fight but I can say that we’ve watched a lot of Paulie and he’s got the same habits now as he’s always had and they’ll come out in the fight. Habits don’t go away - they are not like mistakes, you can correct those, habits come out in the fight when you’re under pressure.”

Amir understands that his 0:54-second KO loss to Prescott will live long in the minds of many critics, though he is always keen to stress that his lightweight career saw him fight a bitter battle with the scales and that he is a fighter reborn at 140lb, come May the 15th he takes the first step on the road to proving this claim to the American fans.

In part two, Khan talks about Marcos Rene Maidana, Timothy Bradley and the business of boxing.

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