By Mark Vester
British lightweight star Amir Khan has been inspired by some words of advice that came from Manny Pacquiao, regarded as the number-one pound for pound fighter in the sport. After being stopped by Breidis Prescott in 54-seconds of the first round in September, Khan hooked up with American based trainer Freddie Roach, and the flew to Hollywood, California to train at the Wild Card Gym with Roach's star pupil Pacquiao.
Both Khan and Pacquiao return to action on December 6 and spent a lot of time in camp helping each other prepare and talking about their careers. Pacquiao faces Oscar De La Hoya in the biggest fight of the year in Las Vegas. Khan takes on Oisin Fagan at London's ExCel Arena. Due to the conflict, Roach will be working Pacquiao's corner that night, but plans to be in Khan's corner for the next ring appearance in 2009.
Pacquiao told Khan to not let that crushing loss get in his head. Manny told him how he also lost a few fights early in his career, by knockout, telling the younger fighter that he can pick himself up and fight his way back to the top. Khan says the tough sparring with Pacquiao made him gain more confidence as a fighter.
"I had a good camp with Pacquiao," said Khan to writer Iain Axon. "He lost a couple of fights early in his career by knockout, and he told me that you win some and you lose some. The advice he has given me has been really helpful.
"I've been sparring with him a lot and I've got lots of confidence from that. He was very strong and the sparring was like a fight. He made me realise that it is a tough sport, and you have to use your brains. I had to use my jab more, but in the end everything was coming off that punch and I was getting better and better in sparring. Manny hit me with his best shots a couple of times but I took them fine, I didn't go down or anything like that, so it gave me confidence."
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