Comments Thread For: Shaw: Golden Boy, Amir Khan Turn Down 140 Tourney

[bojangles1987]

Man, this would be fantastic, minus Marquez and replace him with Maidana. Not enough fighters are up for a Super Six type thing.

[Dave Rado]

The truth is the person with the biggest sway is Roach, His word is final in who Khan fights and when he fights. Warren had said at the end of the Salita fight that Khan had achieved 70% of his career already, Roach retorted Khan had only reached 50%. You cant blame Khan for leaving Warren who paid less, Was trying to get Khan finished by rushing him into Maidana after he had already made one defence against Salita. I think Roach is doing what he should be doing, Picking the right fights, At the right time.

I don't think Warren was trying to get Khan finished at all. I think he honestly believed Khan would beat Maidana. Why else would he have been in serious negotiations for Khan to fight Bradley after Maidana (which Shaw has confirmed was the case)?

Roach also said at that he believed Khan could beat Maidana but that the risk was too high relative to the reward. To me, that's a ***** move, because Khan was calling himself a world champion and world champions don't duck their mandatories simply because they're worried they might lose. By doing that, he destroyed his credibility as a world champion. If Roach didn't think he was ready for Maidana, he should have advised Khan to vacate; or better still, he should have taken a non-title learning fight instead of fighting Kotelnik for a world title.

It's calling yourself a world champion while behaving like a prospect that stinks. It's an insult to every fan of the sport of boxing. Roach keeps going on about boxing being a business, but it isn't only a business, it's a sport as well, and the long term success of the business depends on the credibility of the sport. This sort of ***** move seriously damages the credibility of the sport.

And now they're adding insult to injury by ducking his mandatory for a second time in two fights.

And Roach wasn't doing his job by insulting boxing fans in that way. He knew, when Khan took the Kotelnik fight, that he'd have to fight either Ortiz or Maidana after that. If he didn't think Khan was ready for that, he should have told Warren not to make the Kotelnik fight.

I also think that Shah is as much part of the problem as Roach is. Having seen his son brutally KO'd once, I think Shah is terrified of it happening again, and he seems to me to have as much influence as Roach does.

By the way would be interested to hear your opinion on what I said about Oliver Harrison who was Khans first trainer.

Regards

Whether the fact that Oliver Harrison was from a kick boxing background explains what went wrong or not, I don't feel qualified to comment on. It's an interesting opinion but I've no idea whether it's right or not. What I do know is that he did a truly terrible job with Khan. There are some good trainers in the UK, and given how well Khan has responded to Roach, I'm sure he would have been a much better boxer by the time he fought Prescott if he'd had a good trainer from the start.

Interesting comparison you make with Judah - both having had trainers with similar backgrounds, both being exceptionally fast, very talented, good power, weak chins. But Judah never had a Freddie Roach.

I think Khan can possibly do even better than Judah, with Roach in his corner. Time will tell. Lots of Hall of Famers have had weak chins, and Judah won't get in the Hall of Fame. Khan has a lot of talent, and his defence, jab and footwork have improved dramatically under Roach. We'll see. But I can't think of any Hall of Famers who have been as over-protected after they won their first world title as Khan is being. That has seriously damaged his long term credibility and it'll take him a long time to live it down.

[la pantera]

I am not surprised...Roach wants no part of at least 2 out of 3 fights mentioned...and Khan believes he is too good and probably deserves most of the money.

[Bee Keepz]

Of course they turned it down, 66% they either get Bradley or Alexander from the hat.

[GloriousG]

wow im really losing interest in these 140lb fighters. when are they going to fight each other!!!!