Key #1 for Amir Khan Tighten Everything Up
Photo by Peter Cziborra/Action Images
By Lauren Pinkerton
There shouldn’t be an argument here. If we can come together and name Amir Khan’s number one flaw, it’s that he leaves his chin wide out in the open, and when those power punches swarm him, “King Khan” suffers. Weak chin, glass jaw, whatever you want to label it as, Khan has a problem with creating a target with his chin.
The worst part about this problem is that it should be incredibly easy to fix. Go back to Boxing 101 and the first thing any coach is screaming at you is to keep the chin down and the hands up. Somehow the camera’s exploit practically the opposite with Khan.
It’s almost amazing to me that after this reputation has been flung around as often as your weird uncle’s gross football, Khan hasn’t made too much of an effort to diminish it.
If the King wants a shot at getting in the ring with pound-for-pound ruler, Floyd Mayweather, then this dirty look needs to be cleaned up now. Keep the straights close to the face, tuck the chin down, and for the love of all things holy, keep your gloves up!
Key #1 for Devon Alexander Speed Kills, but Timing Kills Speed
By Lou Catalano
While Devon Alexander is far from slow, Amir Khan has ridiculous hand speed, on par with Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
While that can often be troublesome for fighters to handle, Alexander can take away Khan’s advantage by timing him on the way in and catching him with something he doesn’t see. And in Khan’s case, there is often a lot that he doesn’t see.
Now perhaps Khan is through with the days of happily winging bombs without fear of reprisal. A couple of nasty knockouts will do that to you. But something tells me that no matter what defensive posturing Virgil Hunter tries to instill, Khan is still an aggressive fighter at his core–he enjoys mixing it up.
Alexander should take advantage of this aggression and use it against him. Granted, Alexander is not a power puncher, but he’s proven capable of laying a guy out before. If Devon times Khan, while coming in, it could be lights out again.
