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Khan will come again

The Panel back Amir to put Prescott firmly behind him

The Panel Posted 4th December 2008 view comments

Judgement Night is here... three months to the day since Amir Khan's world was turned upside down by Breidis Prescott.

He is back in the ring at the ExCel Arena on Saturday to take on Oisin Fagan in front of the Sky Box Office cameras and of course the legendary Sky Sports panel.

As always, the team will be on hand on fight night but as ever have taken time out for the build-up to share their expertise and experience with us here on skysports.com.

Khan: Hollywood bawl

Khan: Hollywood bawl

Since that defeat Khan has taken himself away to Hollywood where amongst Freddie Roach's superstars - including Manny Pacquiao - he has quietly set about rebuilding his career and his confidence.

But what will happen when that first bell sounds. Here, the jury of Glenn McCrory, Johnny Nelson, Nicky Piper and Adam Smith give their verdict on Khan's comeback...

KHAN v FAGAN
12 Rounds Lightweight
JUDGEMENT NIGHT
10pm, Saturday, December 6
Live on Sky Box Office & HD
Call 08442 410888 to book!
Click here for booking details

It is hard to forget the image of Khan slumped in a corner, stunned inside a minute by Breidis Prescott. If we can't forget it, how can Khan? Given the devastating nature of the defeat, how hard will it be for him to put it behind him on Saturday night?
JOHNNY NELSON:
A lot of fighters, once they've lost, can't get over it. I expect Amir Khan to be the complete opposite. It will be on his mind, but I can't see that lasting longer than the first minute, or until he takes a solid shot. Amir has such a strong character and Fagan is the perfect opponent for his comeback. He seems to have already accepted that the Breidis Prescott knockout was just one of those things and while he will try to address it - and has - I really can't see it affecting him. And I don't think it matters that much. Look at Thomas Hearns: every time he got hit on the chin he went down, yet he still ended up being a formidable fighter. He had to live with it and so will Amir. But I think he will.

GLENN McCRORY: Now that Khan has been stopped and stopped badly, everyone, including 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 guys 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. 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.

NICKY PIPER: One thing is certain, if he does get hit and is wobbled, the doubters will be back again. If he gets dropped again people will say it is only a matter of time before he gets found out at a higher class. That's the last thing he - or we - want to see. That and the defeat by Breidis Prescott are bound to be on his mind so once again he finds himself under massive pressure.

ADAM SMITH: Amir watched the fight back the very next day and has seen the chilling minute over and over again; on each occasion he says he discovers a different mistake that he intends to put right. I must have watched it over 100 times and it still leaves me cold. The piercing cry from his Mum at ringside and the image of her collapsing backstage afterwards are haunting memories. As a broadcaster, I immediately questioned whether he could ever truly re-build to the very top level; as a sensitive human, I was actually close to tears. It was a real sensation, truly shocking, and of course largely unexpected. But for Amir it's done and dusted.

We have seen and heard plenty from Hollywood where Freddie Roach has been working with him. We saw Ricky Hatton re-invent himself under a new mentor, but can Khan do the same? What should Roach have been working on?
PIPER:
Whether we will see an immediate change, I am not sure. Defensively we should. I hope they have been working on his defence and I have heard they have been working on building up his leg strength to increase his ability to take a shot. That is one way of building up his punch resistance, but I would also like to see them strengthen his neck muscles just to make it easier to ride the punches. If you're chinny, it is incurable and it might be something he has to live with, but you can learn how to take shots better and I am sure Roach has been working on that. But it is the shots you don't see coming that do all the damage and in slowing down, which he has said he will, Khan will be able to pick them much better.

SMITH: Look out for Khan's different body physique with much stronger legs as Nicky says, thanks to new conditioner Alex Ariza, and then plenty of jabs, movement and added patience. Amir Khan really wants this. He's utterly dedicated; he's relocated, and he has one of the world's leading trainers now on board. Freddie Roach can't be with Amir in London - because of his long allegiance with Pacquiao - but his influence will surely be there for all to see.

NELSON: This is a great chance for him to get back to using that jab and I am sure Freddie Roach has been working on that with him. He is the sort of kid that will do whatever he needs to win, box or brawl and Fagan will give him the opportunity. There is no point edging Khan back in slowly, that's not really what he's about. And we forget that while work needed to be done on his defence, he is still a fabulous attacking fighter. Roach will have worked on that too and being in the Wild Card gym will have meant he had to play second, third, even fourth fiddle when it came to sparring and that will keep him humble, keep him honest.

MCCRORY: 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, but 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. Amir needs a much more solid base and I hope Freddie has been working on that. 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.

What about the man in the other corner? We didn't know - or expect - too much of Breidis Prescott last time out and we all know what happened. What sort of test does Fagan present?
NELSON: Fagan is the perfect opponent for his comeback. He needs a guy that is going to walk forward, be there for him, someone who is dangerous, but not too dangerous, strong, but not too strong. The way Fagan fights means Amir won't have to go looking for him, won't have to charge in. He can just sit back and let Fagan come to him and the hopefully, put into practice what he has been working on.

PIPER: First and foremost, Oisin Fagan is going to make him to work hard. Fagan is an intelligent man - he's a teacher - and is very fit. He likes to work in his fights and that will suit Amir down to the ground, because he won't have to go looking for him. At 34, he is experience and a wise old fighter. He should bring out the best in Khan.

MCCRORY: Khan 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.

SMITH: There really is no way that the tough but basic Irish-American should beat Khan, but you just never know what will be going through the Bolton lightweight's mind. And what if Fagan does connect with one of those hooks to the temple or chin? Can Fagan pickpocket Khan at Christmas time like the Dickens' character of a similar name? I can't see it at all.

So Khan has plenty to contend with, not least a decent opponent. But what can expect to see from the boy from Bolton? It's prediction time...
SMITH:
A sweet, swift, safe display will be the perfect tonic. It's a hell of a long climb back as Amir himself knows, but it will be some story if he ends up a world champion. I'll take Khan to bounce back, and unlike the nightmare match last time, this should be exactly the right return fight for him.

PIPER: Fagan will come on to his punches and I am expecting Khan to get this done fairly early, possibly around the fifth. There is nothing wrong with Amir Khan offensively: He has the speed, the power and the accuracy and in Fagan he has the man who will walk onto all that.

NELSON: Freddie not being in his corner is a slight issue, but providing there is someone there to get the message across that he has to keep doing the things he has been doing in the gym, it shouldn't hinder him too much. I can see him stopping Fagan, possibly around the seventh round, after taking his time to get into the fight. That is only natural given his last performance, but I expect him to slowly but surely dissect his man. He will be a little more cautious and maybe more patient, but his workrate will be the same. And so will that handspeed.

MCCRORY: 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 this goes to plan. He should stop him, maybe even fairly early on.

Comments (3)

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Riaz Ahmed says...

I hope that we see a new Amir Khan on Saturday night. I think we should all get behind him , becasue he could be the future of British Boxing. Lets hope Freddie Roach has improved him in his defence and patience in the ring. Come on Khan.

Posted 13:24 5th December 2008

Chris S says...

I dont know to much about Fagan but by the sounds of it, this fight may turn out like the Gomez fight with a brawler come forward style, which if styles make fights this suits amir to the ground. I think this fight will be ended early in the 4th or 5th rounds by TKO for khan. However this fight will not tell us if khan is truly back or not, the next time he faces a puncher like prescott that is when we will see if khan can cope with big punchers and can recover his career to become a world champion. Do i think he can well he is young enough and is training with a world class coach to learn a solid defensive base to go along with his devastating attack.

Posted 17:41 4th December 2008

Matt Larny says...

Prescott was nothing special, just a hard puncher with basic boxing ability. If Khan can't beat him, or even last a minute for that matter, he has no chance against any of the champions and will likely be unable to beat most fighters ranked within the top 30 in the world, something which he has yet to do by the way.

Posted 16:39 4th December 2008

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