Confident Khan at his best for Vegas debut
Britain's Amir Khan is confident and motivated for his debut in
boxing mecca Las Vegas, next week's World Boxing Association super
lightweight title defense against Argentina's Marcos Maidana.
"When I win this fight convincingly, people will realize how good
Amir Khan is," Khan said in a teleconference Thursday to promote the
December 11 bout.
"It has been a great training camp. I am in one of the best shapes of
my life."
Khan, 23-1 with 17 knockouts, or mandatory challenger Maidana, 29-1
with 27 knockouts, will face January's winner between US unbeatens Tim
Bradley and Devon Alexander, the World Boxing Council champion, in a
2011 unification bout.
But for now, Khan is focused upon taking a sixth triumph since
suffering his only loss, that coming in a 2008 knockout loss at the
hands of another South American, Colombia's Breidis Prescott.
"That defeat helped me get this far in my career. That defeat gave me
a wake-up call," Khan said. "I'm training different. My focus is
different. I listen to my trainer and train a lot harder. It was a
blessing in disguise."
It also keeps Khan from making boastful knockout predictions.
"We dont want to go in looking to knock somebody out. We want to
stick to the game plan," Khan said. "There will come times we want to
put pressure on and times we want him to come forward."
"If I'm ready for the best Maidana I will be ready for anything."
Khan, who turns 24 on Wednesday, has matured under trainer Freddie
Roach even though it has meant spending significant time away from his
home in England.
"He sets things up now. He doesn't go in looking for one-punch
knockouts," Roach said. "He knows how to break a person down. He knows
how to work his jab. I've never had a fighter listen so well and take to
the game plan so much.
"We haven't lost one round since we have been together. I don't see
us losing a round here either."
That doesn't mean Roach or Khan are taking Maidana lightly,
especially not after he has retired 22 of 27 foes in three rounds or
less.
"He does have KO power. We respect that. We're ready for what he
has," Roach said. "He's a very good fighter. We will break him down and
I think he will knock (Maidana) out in the later rounds."LAS VEGAS, AFP |
