Khan and Roach: re-inventing

I am expecting to see a more patient and wiser Amir Khan this time round. He's incredibly brave, so keen to impress and brilliant for British boxing, but he needs a little more caution. We know he is always going to attack because that is what he does best and nobody has ever doubted that side of his game.

Glenn McCrory
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KHAN v FAGAN
12 Rounds Lightweight
JUDGEMENT NIGHT
10pm, Saturday, December 6
Live on Sky Box Office & HD
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We wondered if Ricky Hatton could do it and rejuvenate himself, now it's time to see if Amir Khan can do the same.

He has done a similar thing in switching trainers to Freddie Roach and is probably going back to the drawing board too.

Ricky did it and did it well, but there is one thing that makes the reincarnation of Amir Khan that little bit tougher - he'll have to keep that chin tucked away.

Now that Khan has been stopped and stopped badly everyone, including Oisin Fagan, will think they can knock him out if they can catch him.

The problem is people have seen he can be flattened, not just hurt by a non-puncher like Willie Limond, and that means anyone out there will fancy their chances. It means he loses that aura of invincibility that a boxer who has won something carries with him.

Sometimes fighters are scared of these types of guy before they even get in the ring. Mike Tyson built an entire career round it until Buster Douglas came along and proved to the world he was nothing but a big bully.

Terrible

From then on, everyone felt they could beat Tyson and wanted a piece of him and that is the terrible position Amir finds himself in before he has even won anything as a pro.

But I am sure Freddie Roach has been working on that. There is nothing in your genetic make-up that suggests you can take a shot better than the next man or you have a glass jaw.

The trouble with Amir is he is always on the move and that is part of his problem. It's like when you're standing on a bus, you bend your legs. If you don't you will fall over and you certainly don't try and move when you're that bus, because your legs will betray you. He needs a much more solid base.

Also Khan has to avoid being hit. So I would expect Roach has been tightening up that defence and making him a more patient fighter all together, certainly than we he charged in against Breidis Prescott without even taking a look at him.

I do think Freddie Roach is the perfect choice as well. Ever since Eddie Futch 'gave him' Virgil Hill he has trained world champions and strikes me as the sort of calming influence Amir needs right now. We saw Floyd Mayweather Snr have an impact on Ricky Hatton and I am sure we will see the same here.

Brilliant

That said, he will not be in the corner on Saturday night and that will be a problem. Had Roach been at the ExCel Arena it would've given Khan that extra confidence that is so important when you are coming off your first loss. Dean Powell will be there though, who is a good guy.

I am expecting to see a more patient and wiser Amir Khan this time round. He's incredibly brave, so keen to impress and brilliant for British boxing, but he needs a little more caution. We know he is always going to attack because that is what he does best and nobody has ever doubted that side of his game.

He will need to be careful because Oisin Fagan is a good, live opponent. As I say, he will fancy his chances of landing on that chin and if there is any over-confidence or over-eagerness on Amir's part, Fagan is decent enough to capitalise on it.

I still expect Amir Khan to come out and thrill us all and prove he is back. The jury is still out on his ability to take a shot and you can't take a bath without getting wet, so I want to see him take a shot.

I don't want to see him wobbled, we certainly don't want to see him floored - if we do, well then the jury is out even further... and might not ever come back in!

But I expect Amir to put on a show. He has been sparring with Manny Pacquiao which can't be bad and he is still the future of British boxing - providing the reincarnation goes to plan.