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'MANNY PACQUIAO COULDN'T KNOCK ME DOWN,' SAYS AMIR KHAN
by Danny Flexen (http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/bn08/detail.asp?id=2003)
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by Danny Flexen (http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/bn08/detail.asp?id=2003)
AHEAD of his WBA light-welterweight title defence against Marcos Maidana, the biggest puncher he has faced since Bredis Prescott knocked him out in 2008, Amir Khan has hit out once and for all at the question-marks regarding his chin. Khan, who meets Maidana on December 11 in Las Vegas, insists any vulnerability in the past was caused by the struggle to make the 9st 9lbs lightweight limit and has some interesting evidence to support his claim.
“I’ve taken Manny Pacquiao’s hardest shot in sparring when he weighed 152lbs and he’s not put me down,” Khan bragged. “He caught me a lot of times with big shots and didn’t put me down. I’ve been hit by middleweights and never been put down in sparring. It was only when I was killing myself making weight. I make the weight easier now, I’m a lot stronger and I feel like I can stand in front of any shot.
“I used to kill myself to make weight. I’d be on a strict diet. I’d wear a sweatsuit at night-time, do a five-mile run, come home, have a shower, not have nothing to drink before going to bed. I used to do that for five days on the trot. I’d get up, have half a glass of water and go to the gym again, wearing a sweatsuit. Now, training in LA, we do everything so professionally. Making the weight used to be one fight for me. Who knows what would have happened in the Prescott fight if I hadn’t had to make weight?”
Until signing for the Maidana fight, Khan has faced criticism for supposedly avoiding powerful opponents. He hits back by saying he actively sought to pit his skills against the Argentine’s brute force.
“I’m not being forced into this fight, I forced myself into this fight,” he declared. “But after I beat Maidana, people will say we knew you were going to beat him, it was an easy fight. You can’t win – criticism is always going to be there.”
Khan said that Richard Schaefer, head of his promoter Golden Boy, had told him it did not look like rival champions Timothy Bradley (WBO) and Devon Alexander (WBC and IBF) would be meeting anytime soon. Luckily, Khan has a Plan B.
“If it comes down to it and I have to fight each of them I’ll do that,” he vowed. “I want to fight the best in the division and my plan is to beat Maidana and if the other two don’t fight each other, I’ll fight one of them."
“I’ve taken Manny Pacquiao’s hardest shot in sparring when he weighed 152lbs and he’s not put me down,” Khan bragged. “He caught me a lot of times with big shots and didn’t put me down. I’ve been hit by middleweights and never been put down in sparring. It was only when I was killing myself making weight. I make the weight easier now, I’m a lot stronger and I feel like I can stand in front of any shot.
“I used to kill myself to make weight. I’d be on a strict diet. I’d wear a sweatsuit at night-time, do a five-mile run, come home, have a shower, not have nothing to drink before going to bed. I used to do that for five days on the trot. I’d get up, have half a glass of water and go to the gym again, wearing a sweatsuit. Now, training in LA, we do everything so professionally. Making the weight used to be one fight for me. Who knows what would have happened in the Prescott fight if I hadn’t had to make weight?”
Until signing for the Maidana fight, Khan has faced criticism for supposedly avoiding powerful opponents. He hits back by saying he actively sought to pit his skills against the Argentine’s brute force.
“I’m not being forced into this fight, I forced myself into this fight,” he declared. “But after I beat Maidana, people will say we knew you were going to beat him, it was an easy fight. You can’t win – criticism is always going to be there.”
Khan said that Richard Schaefer, head of his promoter Golden Boy, had told him it did not look like rival champions Timothy Bradley (WBO) and Devon Alexander (WBC and IBF) would be meeting anytime soon. Luckily, Khan has a Plan B.
“If it comes down to it and I have to fight each of them I’ll do that,” he vowed. “I want to fight the best in the division and my plan is to beat Maidana and if the other two don’t fight each other, I’ll fight one of them."
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