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Chins can improve. Ali was chinny in his early career and had a superb chin later on. In his late career, Shavers hit Ali with everything he had and couldn't knock him down, yet in his early career he was saved by the bell after a single left hook from Henry Cooper, who was not a particularly big puncher.
Khan's whole body has changed dramatically since joining Roach. He used to have spindly legs and too much muscle on his back. Now his legs are sturdier and his back is leaner and more flexible. This will improve both his punch-resistance and his upper body movement.
He's also been doing conditioning exercises (neck etc) that may help his punch resistance.
He used to keep his hands low and his chin in the air. He now keeps his hands up and his chin tucked in much more.
Khan had never been taught how to block or roll with punches properly, before Roach took him on. He's been working intensively on that with Roach. Also his stance used to be all wrong, and Roach has been working on that, too - and stance has a lot to do with punch resistance.
He also didn't used to clinch when hurt, so that once he was hurt it was easy to hit him with follow-up punches. He's been working on that, too.
His tactics in general used to be appalling - he has a superb jab but he rarely used it properly before teaming up with Roach. He used to swing so wildly that he moved straight onto punches, which has the effect of greatly increasing their effective power - analogous to two cars in a head-on collision. The effect on him of Prescott's jab is over-stated - Nigel Benn was knocked out cold by a jab against Michael Watson, and Watson wasn't a great puncher. If you're moving onto a hard jab and don't see it coming, it can do damage.
He has sparred intensively with Pacquiao, and stood up well to his punches, reportedly. Not the same as fighting Pac for real, obviously, but Pac hits pretty hard even in sparring.
Khan's whole body has changed dramatically since joining Roach. He used to have spindly legs and too much muscle on his back. Now his legs are sturdier and his back is leaner and more flexible. This will improve both his punch-resistance and his upper body movement.
He's also been doing conditioning exercises (neck etc) that may help his punch resistance.
He used to keep his hands low and his chin in the air. He now keeps his hands up and his chin tucked in much more.
Khan had never been taught how to block or roll with punches properly, before Roach took him on. He's been working intensively on that with Roach. Also his stance used to be all wrong, and Roach has been working on that, too - and stance has a lot to do with punch resistance.
He also didn't used to clinch when hurt, so that once he was hurt it was easy to hit him with follow-up punches. He's been working on that, too.
His tactics in general used to be appalling - he has a superb jab but he rarely used it properly before teaming up with Roach. He used to swing so wildly that he moved straight onto punches, which has the effect of greatly increasing their effective power - analogous to two cars in a head-on collision. The effect on him of Prescott's jab is over-stated - Nigel Benn was knocked out cold by a jab against Michael Watson, and Watson wasn't a great puncher. If you're moving onto a hard jab and don't see it coming, it can do damage.
He has sparred intensively with Pacquiao, and stood up well to his punches, reportedly. Not the same as fighting Pac for real, obviously, but Pac hits pretty hard even in sparring.
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