When was Khan a flat footed Puncher? What was being worked on in camp?

For me he has two choices.

1. Quick "easy" route - Try your best to get a rematch with Garcia, even at 65-35 in Garcias favour. And do your best to not get caught. It's not completly unreasnoble to expect a competitive rematch. Just look at the polls and betting odds that had Khan favourite.

2. Go back to the UK and evaluate your methods, including trainer and S&C coach. Is it wise to go philipines when Manny's circus demands it? Should he get a new coach? Maybe keep roach - And fight some guys in the UK to rebuild his career. Doesn't need to fight complete tomatoe cans but get some feather fisted names in there, maybe a malignaggi at 147. Maybe a Hatton return at Wembley? But use this time to rebuild your career and work on your faults.


Option 1 is potentially easier route, where if he wins can take him back to almost where he was before the KO. Problem is he won't really learn anything new and just has to hope he doesn't get caught like he did first time.

Option 2, allows him respite and chance to rebuild his tattered reputation. Maybe look at new coach and trainer. Or maybe evaluate where he wants his career to go. He can still reach elite level if he can adapt and change his style - Maybe if he becomes sharper (mentally) in the ring - he can get back - but this will take at least a year with 4 fights in between. His name is always big and opposition will always want to fight him, so after defeating a couple of lesser names, he can be back in the mix.

Option 1, gives him instant recovery if he can win, but potentially can ruin him for good if he loses emphatically again. Option 2 buys him more time and might prove the safer choice for longevity in the game.

The 3rd option which I haven't mentioned is calling it a day - this would be the case if his heart was not in it, because he will just leave himself open to more permanent physical harm where he could be put in a position where he can't enjoy his family or money anymore. I know Khan ain't a quitter so this is not really an option.

 

Spot on Rico :good, Just watched it again and this is what i noticed.

-Poor Balance from Khan, a few times Garcia offset him with a step back and Khan would fall in and get away with it.

-Khan's straight punches early on was very good, but the power didn't seem to affect Garcia the way maybe Khan expected.

-Khan was more settled on feet then normal, He didn't use the lateral movement like normal and how i would of fought Garcia. That was one aspect of the gameplan that i didn't like.

-Khan actually feinted well at times, drew some leads from Garcia and was thinking.

-Tabares work in the corner was horrible, did anyone notice?. Lack of experience for me. Looked lost at what to do, he gave Amir a little bit of water and then slowly applied the Ice pack to the neck. There was no ice applied to top of the head and water on head to wake him up.

-With regards to Khan's team i do find it strange how much emphasis and responsibility is placed on the S&C coaches.

All in all, Khan was winning the fight but yes looking back there was parts of the gameplan that i did find strange. He had utter disregard for Garcia's offense and paid the price. He was hit numerous times in the fight with right hands and clipped with left hooks.

Both he and Roach have to accept they made poor decisions. But if you notice in interview he always says 'we' well it's you, Amir who gets into the ring and puts plan into action. Your going to have to accept that your love of brawling and posing for pics at any given moment must be put a side and hard work in gym needs to be done. I don't mean training camp for a fight. He needs 4 months out to rest, and work on his skillset.

Khan is a fighting athlete rather then a skilled fighter. Everything we hear about Khan's development if you notice is physically rather then technically. Khan had to let his hands go, but he was offering Garcia that Jackpot all night when really he could of picked his moments and kept it tight. Silly kid..

Manny Steward loves to work on fighters balance and fighting at range you know, Just saying...:yep

 

It's pretty clear what has happened here, its also pretty clear that Khan can rebuild from this defeat.

After Prescott, all people talked about was his chin, they said he could not take a punch. From there, Khan moved up, got a new trainer and conditioner and started to go to war, taking punches willingly and accepting punishment.

Effectively, other issues were completely forgotten about. Khan's terrible footwork, his seeming inability to jab and move. His decisions to instead stand on the inside and trade.

Khan's best assets are his handspeed and his jab (when he uses it properly). His weaknesses are that he cannot take a punch as well as some others, and he cannot fight on the inside.

He completely forgets his assets and issues come fight night, however, in a bid to prove his machismo. He always ends up making it hard for himself.

The question Khan has to ask himself is - does he want to be Arturo Gatti or Manny Pacquiao? Giving the fans exciting fights, taking shots. Or does he actually want to be Amir Khan? Using what he has, whether that be boring or not, to win fights.

I'm going to say this, if in the next few weeks it is announced simply that Amir is moving up to 147, will fight someone such as Paulie Malignaggi for his belt and states his aims to rematch Garcia/Peterson and get his name back into the hat for the big name fights...he will lose in brutal fashion again, and soon.

He needs to learn to jab and move, pick his shots with intelligence, and learning what to do when inside wouldn't be a bad thing either. And also, lose the deathwish.

 

This. You just found the words I was looking for.

He is athletic. He has fast hands, but picks his punches without thought. He has fast feet, but only uses them to backtrack when he is hurt or in trouble. Instead of using his assets to best effect, he uses them to cover for all his other mistakes.

 

Khan should:

1. Get Manny Steward to do with him what he did with Wlad. He needs to use his speed and athleticism to protect his chin and avoid fighting on the inside where he is weak. He can't be successful at world level as a macho fighter - he could do a lot better if he was less entertaining but played to his strengths. See also: Andre Ward.

2. Take a few months off, but then have 4 fights in a year. 25-year-old fighters with much to prove shouldn't be on this 2-fights-per-year superstar schedule.

 

:good Yep your spot on Bazza, Roach found him a transitional tactic(s)/style while Ariza developed his body but really the last 18 months it's been a bit like 'well is this it then?, not going to do anything different?..' and against more aggressive fighters he's been asked questions and he's not had the answers you'd hope a champion would have on a technical front.

Heart wise, the kid is seriously something else. We've got some real savage warriors in this country. Him, Froch, Chisora and co just don't know when there beaten.

 

I noticed that too but tbf I think he says 'we' when he wins as well so I'm not sure he is trying to deflect at all. Take your point though.

 

Khans vulnerability was always appealing to the fans.

If he he fought like he did against Kotelnik for the rest of his career, the 'what if he gets tagged' element would still have made his fights compelling viewing.

He seems to have got all caught up in the showbiz element of the sport both inside & outside the ring. Trying to emulate Manny inside & Mayweather outside has lead to his downfall.

 

:good Yeah that's true, he's very team orientated.

 

fast feet but no balance. therefore, his legs are rendered useless

 

i would trade that heart for some extra skillz anyday.

 

I'd have a bit of both :good.

 

You're correct. Poor footwork.

 

True. I did think to myself "has he started to plateau?" before last night.

It's interesting because now we think of it, when I think of Freddie Roach recently, I think Pacquiao, Chavez Jr, Israel Vazquez. Guys with great chins who come forward, take shots and throw leather at a hundred miles an hour.

Its pretty clear now Khan has settled into this style, he has become more of a fast-paced volume puncher at the end of the day. He even taps his gloves and chin when hurt...

Everything he does from here depends on if he wants to be an Arturo Gatti type, or Amir Khan. But your also right when you mention his heart. Insane amounts of the stuff, but he's almost a glutton for punishment now, like he's forgotten what's good for him!