Amir Khan - Faults and Weaknesses

Khan proved against Peterson how far away he is from being an elite fighter. Forget whether you think he won or not and forget whether you think the referee robbed him, just consider the real problems in his game: 1. Inability to fight on the inside - Maidana showed how poor Khan is with his back to the ropes and Peterson took it a stage further. All Khan does is look to tie up his opponent and push down. He makes no attempt to mix it up and shows no head or upper body movement. 2. Lack of ring generalship - Considering his weakness on the inside, you'd think Khan would look to dictate the fight by keeping it in the centre of the ring, but he showed a complete inability to do so. Instead of picking his shots and mixing between head and body, Khan just flurried to the head as usual, a pattern that Peterson largely picked up on. This made it easier for Peterson to bully him into a corner or up against the ropes. Khan also showed a lack of footwork and lateral movement, being cornered far too easily. 3. One-dimensional style with no adaptation - Great fighters adjust to what happens in the ring, finding a way to win or a way to turn the fight their way. Khan looked like a lost child plugging away at what he learned parrot fashion, showing little to no ring intelligence. Peterson was picking off his flurries to the head and was pinning him against the ropes too easily, so what did Khan do? Continue as before. Khan didn't pick up on the fact that his body shots could have slowed Peterson down (as Roach mentioned in his corner) and he didn't mix up his rhythm to become less predictable. All said and done, I'm still a fan as Khan is always value for money and I still believe he can become a great fighter if he truly learns from his mistakes. I actually had Khan winning before the final point deduction, but Khan gave up so much and Peterson fought so well that I didn't mind the decision that much - although I did think Cooper did a bad job as referee. Anyway, thoughts on what Khan needs to learn? Can he learn? Discuss.

Comments (15)

I've said this before and I'm saying it again... Amir fights like an amateur. Can't counter punched. Telegraphs his punches. Very few lateral movements. Frequently moves backwards in a straight line. Doesn't pick his punches and relies heavily on flurries with no definite target. He can't effectively fight a pressure fighter. I also question his ring intelligence. He can't properly implement a game plan. This is a classical example of "speed alone can't win you fights". With all that said, in spite of looking amateurish, I still think Amir won a close fight.

14y ago

deejd

i think the first sentence there says it all. i dunno he can be taught to do all this stuff at a world class level. and i don't think roach can teach it him necessarily either. although a lot of it was passing the blame when he lost to prescott (same as he is doing now) i think a major reason he split from cuban trainer rubio was that rubio will have insisted that he learn to box properly and not only punch. rubio has recently been working with rigondeaux who is up a the top of the tree in terms of all the qualities that khan is lacking and the cubans insist on a high level of technical ability and tactical know how. my point is- would anyone who has the knowledge and ability to teach khan what he needs to know actually be able to get through to him??!! i don't think so. Stellar post.

14y ago

frostyg

Amir has all the physical tools to become a great fighter. It just a shame that he seems to be the p4p dumbest boxer in the game..... I dont know whether its passed on from Roach or what. But most of the time he fights in ways that totally nullify all his advatanges. I wish he'd go with Manny Steward or something. He'd have him fighting tall behind a jab and sitting on his punches more. i think the first sentence there says it all. i dunno he can be taught to do all this stuff at a world class level. and i don't think roach can teach it him necessarily either. although a lot of it was passing the blame when he lost to prescott (same as he is doing now) i think a major reason he split from cuban trainer rubio was that rubio will have insisted that he learn to box properly and not only punch. rubio has recently been working with rigondeaux who is up a the top of the tree in terms of all the qualities that khan is lacking and the cubans insist on a high level of technical ability and tactical know how. my point is- would anyone who has the knowledge and ability to teach khan what he needs to know actually be able to get through to him??!! i don't think so.

14y ago

deejd

He talks a LOT That's his main issue. Makes the Prince sound modest... and look legit.

14y ago

NoLove

Falling off balance when throwing a punch. Failing to understand how to pace himself. Inability to fight on the inside. Inability to defend against almost every punch. Running usually means staying on the backfoot and moving away. Not actually running away. Inability to stick to a gameplan. Crumbling under pressure.

14y ago

John_Barron

good points and a lot of boxing fans are noticing the same things about him now. it seemed like i was one of a few to bring these issues up after the maidana fight. everyone was wow'd by the first round body shot and his chin being tested that a lot of his mistakes and inability to fight inside were overlooked.

14y ago

RL_GMA

No inside game, suspect defense, ehhh chin. But he's not done yet by any means. Kid is still young. Losing isn't the end all in Boxing contrary to today's standards from Boxing fans.

14y ago

deejd

Khan proved against Peterson how far away he is from being an elite fighter. Look, I completely agree with the fact that Khan is nowhere near elite, always have known this but when you make a statement like this, you're detracting from Lamont Peterson. Has it ever crossed your mind that Peterson actually happens to be an elite level fighter himself?

14y ago

Chopper417

Khan has the natural ability and skill to beat almost any good fighter, but he simply does not have the craft or polish to beat very good and elite fighters. he needs to make some major improvement if he wants to be elite.

14y ago

Pactar8706

Two more psychological problems: When he gets frustrated, he starts fouling. He underestimates his opponents, and overestimates himself. Maybe it's just me, but AK is quickly becoming another version of Zab Judah. Another guy with massive potential going mediocre.

14y ago

Dudley

his inside game. he has leverage to drop the best with body shots but he rarely does it! he should always be a body puncher first then go to the head!

14y ago

Shadows

I would also add that Khan has a tendency to come in on a line when fighting on the front foot, boring straight in. He almost does a half lunge/running when he does so and leaves himself wide open for counters.

14y ago

Hitman_Hodgson

He can't handle pressure, his only responce is to move back in straight lines. He seems pretty flat footed, he does have lightning hand speed (although I think he could afford to lose some of that speed and sit down on his shots more.) but his over all movement seems awkward at times. He's also very very easy to tag. Not everyone may agree with this but I think long term he needs to break away from Freddie Roach. He hasn't improved in his last 3 or 4 fights and is still making the same mistakes he was making 12 months ago.

14y ago

P4P_Opinion

Power .Most of his shots are petty pat punche.Peterson didn't respect his power that's why he could consistently get close at will. Agreed. I actually think Khan has reasonable power, but he concentrates too much on throwing flurries and when you're trying to throw that many punches that quickly, you can't put that much mustard on them. Unless you're Pacquiao.

14y ago

Filo

Power .Most of his shots are petty pat punche.Peterson didn't respect his power that's why he could consistently get close at will.

14y ago