Amir Khan Vows To Outbox, Beat Marco Antonio Barrera

[javelin_fangs]

Yeah, I didn't remember Toney when I made the thread, and I was forced to eat my words a bit, but I do think that he is pretty overrated.

De La Hoya was worse off with him as well. He just doesn't seem to have a lot of variety in his advice, and it works for some fighters, but it's ineffective for most.

I'm of the opinion that Roach helped DLH hide some of the places he was lacking. For example, he had DLH rushing Floyd to the ropes and wrestling until Floyd did the shoulder roll. I thought at the time that it was because they were scared to fight in the middle of the ring and in hindsight I'm even more convinced that was Roach's plan. For the Pacquiao fight, Roach had Pacman trapping DLH in the center until DLH was worn and backing himself up.

In other words, I think Roach did what he could with Oscar. I don't think that's true with Vazquez or even Hopkins.

[ELPacman]

Hahha, I like how he vows to OUTBOX Barrera. Not KO him. No more trading punches for him. He's gonna get on his bike for probably the rest of his career. I hope Barrera can close the distance to KO him again. What's it mean when a nobody KOed the guy in 54 seconds and a legend can't? Barrera is past his prime yeah, but couldn't he perform some sort of duplication by studying what Prescott did and going for it?

[Fox McCloud]

I'm of the opinion that Roach helped DLH hide some of the places he was lacking. For example, he had DLH rushing Floyd to the ropes and wrestling until Floyd did the shoulder roll. I thought at the time that it was because they were scared to fight in the middle of the ring and in hindsight I'm even more convinced that was Roach's plan. For the Pacquiao fight, Roach had Pacman trapping DLH in the center until DLH was worn and backing himself up.

In other words, I think Roach did what he could with Oscar. I don't think that's true with Vazquez or even Hopkins.

De La Hoya has such a great jab, and it just didn't even seem to be a remote concern. He fell into the same trap that most people do with Floyd... they think it's impossible to outbox him... they think that pressure is the only way, and that is just not Oscar's game. You know?

[javelin_fangs]

De La Hoya has such a great jab, and it just didn't even seem to be a remote concern. He fell into the same trap that most people do with Floyd... they think it's impossible to outbox him... they think that pressure is the only way, and that is just not Oscar's game. You know?

That's one way to look at it. Another is to look at what happened when they were in the middle of the ring. DLH did land some jabs but more often than not Floyd got him out of position and made him look bad. I do think eventually someone will outbox Floyd. I don't think he'll lose to an aggressive fighter. But if DLH had stayed in the middle of the ring with Floyd he'd have gotten embarrassed.

[Dave Rado]

De La Hoya has such a great jab, and it just didn't even seem to be a remote concern. He fell into the same trap that most people do with Floyd... they think it's impossible to outbox him... they think that pressure is the only way, and that is just not Oscar's game. You know?

Whether you think he's overrated as a trainer or not, he's reckoned by most boxing experts to be a real boxing expert, and his reputation as a trainer, whether it's over-rated or not, means he can train the fighters he wants to train. He wouldn't have taken Khan on if he didn't think he had the potential to be genuinely world class. And he wouldn't have advised Khan to take the Barrera fight if he didn't honestly think Khan would win.

Also, DLH was doing very well against Mayweather on the scorecards until the last few rounds, which given that he was well past his peak is impressive, so I think it's unfair to blame Roach for that defeat.

[Dave Rado]

Hahha, I like how he vows to OUTBOX Barrera. Not KO him.

Who has ever KO'd Barrera??

[Dave Rado]

Barrera is past his prime yeah, but couldn't he perform some sort of duplication by studying what Prescott did and going for it?

No, because that would require Khan to fight the way he did against Prescott, which he won't do.

[DUnknown1]

After Khan beats Barrera, the haters will say that Barrera is old this and that, this is a no win situation for Khan!!!!!!!!!

People are already saying that, Kahn is fighting a man who is way past his prime and also way past his weight division.

[Dave Rado]

People are already saying that, Kahn is fighting a man who is way past his prime and also way past his weight division.

But Khan will still not be the strong favourite (he may not be the favourite at all), so a win would do his standing a lot of good, and Barrera is still a huge name, so a win would make Khan far more marketable - so it's not a no-win situation for Khan at all.

[boxaholic]

Wow. WHat a great fight for 2 fighters that need each other now. Khan needs to beat a big name and by fighting a Great fighter that gave Prince Naseem his only loss ages ago it would be a big win for Khan's resume. MAB doesn't need Khan to solidify his greatness at 126 but reaching out there by stepping up in weight and facing a dangerous big up and comer like Khan proves MAB wants the big names any where and any place. Lets hope this fight at least goes 7 to 10 rounds to see what both fighters have left.