The Real and Deep Problems in Khan's Style

He really needs to tighten him his entire game, including his offense. He fights like an amateur basically. I would try to to get him to settle down first of all and sit down on his punches better, stop running around so much and give him a defense and inside game.

 

He's a fighter in the body of a boxer. His mentality isn't in harmony with his abilities.

He's always had this problem, both before and after Roach's training. Roach was able to calm him down slightly, but he'll never be able to get rid of it.

 

Even though DLH is my favorite fighter of all time, he wouldn't be a good fighter for Khan to model himself after.

DLH hit like a truck up to 147. Khan doesn't have that kind of power. DLH also had a rock chin, which Khan doesn't have. There's a reason DLH was able to keep his hands around his chest level with that parrying guard- it allowed him to counter quickly, but every once in awhile a big punch got through it, such as that huge Mayorga uppercut- the reason DLH could do that was because he had an iron chin, and could afford to risk getting hit every once in awhile.

Also, DLH wasn't particularly great at infighting himself, either. He never really tried to put serious effort into developing uppercuts, and mostly focused on the left hook/jab, and mostly used the straight right as something to set up the left hook or disrupt an opponent with. He was accurate with it, but he knew his right lacked real stopping power.

Khan does have good hand and footspeed though, and he's tall and long. He should try and model his style off Vernon Forrest more than DLH.

As far as infighting goes, he'd be well-advised to watch a prime Riddick Bowe. Even though Bowe had pretty porous defense even at his best, keeping his hands as low as he did, Bowe had great infighting skills for such a tall, long fighter. Khan needs to have more of a solution for guys inside than grabbing/wrestling like what Steward trained Wlad to do.

 

his defense and ring IQ seem to be the problem IMO...

 

He has got no chin.
Any fighter that pressures him and throws punches at his head will expose this.
This was made clear last night with his impossible ****** level of inside fighting skill.
He can't take the hits so he pushes/fouls or he runs for his life which is never going to look pretty.

 

dude hasn't been down in years....so thats nonsense.

 

he was KTFO in round #1 and that is why his infighting sucks, because it is always there if someone comes with pressure at him up close, he panics

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shUqYIkMXu0[/ame]

 

JMM vs Khan @140 ... who wins? imagine JMM master inside-fighting if he manages to put that kind of presure.

 

Some people just have more boxing talent than athletic talent. They can pick up boxing skills/techniques better.

Khan has more physical gifts than most fighters with his speed, range, frame, etc..but I doubt he picks up the nuances of boxing that well compared to many world class fighters.

He's more of a programmed robot than a fluid boxer/adapter.

 

I may be wrong, and I know it's a popular opinion that Kahn possesses speed, but I just dont see it. Im not sayin he's slow, I just dont think he has spectacular speed. I also think he pushes his punches instead of throwing them. His stamina is suspect in my opinion as well.

 

Agreed.

 

I think people are being a bit too harsh on Khan. Even with his "flaws", he's still a world class fighter. But he does have flaws. What sticks out most for me is that he's just too basic. A straight up, 1-2 fighter. No slickness in his game. He's predictable and can be hit because of this.

 

good point. Khan is best when he's fighting at a fast pace. When the fight gets slowed down, he's seems to freak out a little

 

If I were Roach, I'd order him and his sparring partners to do consecutive rounds of only inside fighting. Once he corrects his positioning & guard and increases his fluidity in the pocket, I'd order him at random to fight on the inside or outside during certain rounds so that when he needs to, he can make the switch on his own in the ring instead of alternating in such a polar fashion.

Good observations on his rhythm, OP.