Amir Khan says he won't be showing Marco Antonio Barrera any respect when they get in the ring.
Bolton boxer aiming to strike the first blow
Amir Khan admits he won't be showing Marco Antonio Barrera any respect when he enters the ring on March 14.
The 22-year-old popped into the
Soccer AM studios on Saturday morning on route to LA where he will be spending the next six weeks with trainer Freddie Roach and Khan said he will be working harder than ever ahead of his next fight.
"I'm fighting a legend and I'm going to train twice as hard and I'm going to go in there and show him no respect and beat him," he told Soccer AM.
"You can't show him any respect in the fight because he's going to be trying to knock my head off! Once you're in the ring and the bell goes it's all about hitting him first and not getting hit."
Despite not willing to show him any respect in the ring, Khan revealed he had looked up to the Mexican who effectively ended the career of Naseem Hamed in 2001, from a young age.
Legend
"He's alright, he's only seven-times world champion!" he said.
"No, he's a legend and to be honest it's quite funny because I'm actually a fan of his as well. I used to watch all his fights and look up to him.
"I was about 15 when he fought Naz and I never thought I would get a chance to fight him. I'm friends with Naz and I was speaking to him over the phone and I told him about the fight and he's over the moon.
"He said 'look, can you beat him for me?' and I said 'I'll sort him out for you!'
"I'm sure he can give me some good tips because he knows him better than anyone having spent 12 rounds in the ring with him, so I'll be speaking to him over the next six weeks."
Barrera is 13 years Khan's senior and the Bolton fan admitted he would have to exploit that fact if he is to beat the man who has only ever been stopped once in his career.
"He's got some experience behind him", admitted Khan. "But I'm going to work his old legs and he's going to have to keep up with me.
"It's going to be very hard," he added. "I've got about nine weeks before the fight, six weeks in LA and then I'll come back home with three weeks to go to get used to the time difference because the fight is in Manchester."
