Khan To Meet Pacquiao in Baguio

According to FilipinoBoxingJournal.com Published on October 5, 2010 by Kenneth Ragpala At the request of the Hall-of-Famer Freddie Roach and seven-division champion Manny Pacquiao, WBA light welterweight beltholder Amir Khan will be heading to Pacquiao’s training camp in Baguio City, Philippines, to help with the Filipino boxing icon’s training sessions. Khan is said to exceed Pacquiao’s hand speed and Roach felt that Pacquiao training to trade fast flurries will help him prepare for his showdown with the much slower Margarito. Pacquiao and Khan both heavily rely on their quickness. Their foot and hand speed are phenomenal, but many believe that Pacquiao is slightly faster than Khan. But many people including Roach and fellow Wild Card resident and welterweight prospect Rashad Holloway said that Khan is much faster than the Filipino. “His (Khan) speed is his asset; he has faster hand speed than Manny,” Roach said in an interview back in March 2009. Holloway, who has both sparred with Pacquiao and Khan, confirmed that Khan possesses the hand speed that would surpass that of Pacquiao’s. “Hand speed, I will give Amir the nod,” Holloway mentioned in an interview with Elie Seckbach, “but Pacquiao has faster feet.” Khan’s visit to the Philippines will also serve a purpose for the Bolton native. Roach wants to keep Khan busy and on the move and make sure Wild Card’s famed strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza keeps Khan’s weight on check. Khan will be defending his WBA light welterweight crown against hard puncher Marcos Maidana on December 11th, nearly a month after Pacquiao’s ring date with Margarito. Khan is said to tag along with Team Pacquiao all the way to fight night in Arlington, Texas. As for their training sessions, Roach plans to alternate his time between his two prized wards. Even with such arrangement, Khan said he relishes in the fact that he is training under the world’s best boxing trainer and alongside the world’s best boxer. “I get so much from working alongside Manny. We never fight over Freddie’s attention,” Khan said in an interview.