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Freddie Roach has revealed the work that has been going on behind the scenes to get Amir Khan ready for his shot at the WBA light-welterweight title on July 18.
The 22-year-old Olympic silver medallist will take on champion Andreas Kotelnik at Manchester's MEN Arena in a bout that had originally been scheduled for June 27 at London's O2 Arena.
Not only is Khan stepping up to challenge for a world title for the first time, he is also moving up from lightweight for the first time.
But Khan's trainer has been working towards this bout for some time now, and has been putting particular emphasis on speed in training.
Game plan
"We're in a great place right now, we're ready to fight. The postponement knocked us off a little bit but we regrouped and there are no excuses, we're ready," Roach told Sky Sports News.
"He's 100 per cent and in great shape. He's a very dedicated guy and I've pretty much been drilling him to go with a game plan rather than to go in there to knock guys out and make mistakes.
"We took a lot of the muscle out of the upper body and put it in his lower body, into his legs. If you have a guy with speed, it's the best asset in the world, why would you take away from that and try to build him up? There's no sense in that whatsoever. Speed kills.
"I think 140lbs is a better weight for him. He's more natural at that weight. He's much stronger at that weight and I think that's going to be the route from here on out."
Roach has also given his approval to a potential bout with Ricky Hatton, should Khan claim the championship.
"I think once Amir wins the world title he'll (Hatton) want to go after Amir's world title," he added.
"It'd be a huge fight here in the UK, you'd sell a lot of tickets, make a lot of money. Why not? I think it could be a great fight.
"I think if we win this title, Hatton could be knocking on our door."
SOURCE:SkySports
The 22-year-old Olympic silver medallist will take on champion Andreas Kotelnik at Manchester's MEN Arena in a bout that had originally been scheduled for June 27 at London's O2 Arena.
Not only is Khan stepping up to challenge for a world title for the first time, he is also moving up from lightweight for the first time.
But Khan's trainer has been working towards this bout for some time now, and has been putting particular emphasis on speed in training.
Game plan
"We're in a great place right now, we're ready to fight. The postponement knocked us off a little bit but we regrouped and there are no excuses, we're ready," Roach told Sky Sports News.
"He's 100 per cent and in great shape. He's a very dedicated guy and I've pretty much been drilling him to go with a game plan rather than to go in there to knock guys out and make mistakes.
"We took a lot of the muscle out of the upper body and put it in his lower body, into his legs. If you have a guy with speed, it's the best asset in the world, why would you take away from that and try to build him up? There's no sense in that whatsoever. Speed kills.
"I think 140lbs is a better weight for him. He's more natural at that weight. He's much stronger at that weight and I think that's going to be the route from here on out."
Roach has also given his approval to a potential bout with Ricky Hatton, should Khan claim the championship.
"I think once Amir wins the world title he'll (Hatton) want to go after Amir's world title," he added.
"It'd be a huge fight here in the UK, you'd sell a lot of tickets, make a lot of money. Why not? I think it could be a great fight.
"I think if we win this title, Hatton could be knocking on our door."
SOURCE:SkySports
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