By Chris Robinson
WBA and IBF junior welterweight champion Amir Khan entertained the media during a conference call ahead of his upcoming December 10th bout. Khan is getting ready for a defense of his titles in Washington, D.C. against hometown favorite and proven contender Lamont Peterson and will then likely be eyeing a move up to the welterweight division afterwards.
During the conference call, Khan seemed to be bombarded with several questions relating to the fight being held in D.C. and whether he felt he would be able to win over the pro-Peterson crowd. But along the way the British star was also able to address his recent run-in with fellow champion Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas, discuss whether or not he feels he has gotten the credit he deserves for his accomplishments, and also reveal that he once pushed for a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, only to be turned down.
Below are a few highlights from Khan…
Training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles with Freddie Roach…
“Training has gone brilliantly. I'm happy with the way things have gone. Sparring has gone good. We've had some tough, tough sparring partners who've been very strong and not taken a step back. They've probably been tougher than fighting Lamont on Saturday, hopefully, because the sparring partners have been a big help in this camp. Also pad work with Freddie and also strength work with Alex Ariza, it went really well. I'm in probably one of the best conditions I've ever been in for a fight. And I think this camp has been one of the best camps working alongside the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Cesar Chavez Jr., and Linares.
Thoughts on Peterson’s comments that he would try to emulate the style of Juan Manuel Marquez, who recently gave Amir’s stable mate Manny Pacquiao a life-and-death battle in Las Vegas…
“I've not heard nothing about that, but we also offered the fight to Marquez a long time ago and he refused that fight. I think styles makes fights, and I think with my style you can put out Marquez and put Amir, I think we all know what the decision will be. But with Lamont, we'll see. I've done up my homework, and we're going to stick to the game plan and I'm going to stick to instructions from my corner. But he can go ahead and think what he wants in the fight because it will be a different story when he's in there alone.”
Fighting away from home…
“I mean, that's one thing about me. All my life I've been fighting away from home. I train away from home and I've kind of got used to it. I win fans over and that's what I love doing. I mean the best fight in the world I've done-you look at Manny Pacquiao, he lives in the Philippines but he chooses to come to America and train and also fight away from and fight in different states. I want to do the same thing that he is doing.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
