Will this still be the same under Hunter and at 147lbs?
At 140lbs Khan usually had his best fights against fighters who tried move away from him and out 'slick' him. Guys like Judah, Malignaggi, Kotelnik and Lamont Peterson in the early rounds tried to outbox Khan and were overwhelmed by his speed and volume punching. He was able to keep each of them so preoccupied with defending his high speed flurries that they could not see/react to the gaps in his defence.
my worry for him at 147 is that his opponents are going to have the reach and size to catch Khan way more consistently in between his punches. While Hunter has tried to slow Khan down slightly, he has still shown the tendency (against Molina and Diaz) to jump in with combos, leave himself open and get tagged. I think Khan has always struggled with his range, and has gotten away with it because of his blinding speed, at 147 this problem is going to be magnified. The extra reach and size of his opponents will mean he is always going to be there to be hit when he is getting his punches off. Also Khans other weaknesses, his power and chin, will surely be made worse also by the move up. Im not convinced when they say he was cutting loads of weight for 140 as a reason for his chin, I only really heard him saying it after he started losing.
Some one with good timing and boxing brain, like Collazo for example, is going to be able to see Khans attacks coming (as he will have to start them from further out) and catch Khan on his way in or in between his punches.
If Khan and Hunter can prove me wrong then fair play, but based on what I've seen of Khan, and few fights hes had with Hunter, Im not confident he will react well to the move up in weight.
At 140lbs Khan usually had his best fights against fighters who tried move away from him and out 'slick' him. Guys like Judah, Malignaggi, Kotelnik and Lamont Peterson in the early rounds tried to outbox Khan and were overwhelmed by his speed and volume punching. He was able to keep each of them so preoccupied with defending his high speed flurries that they could not see/react to the gaps in his defence.
my worry for him at 147 is that his opponents are going to have the reach and size to catch Khan way more consistently in between his punches. While Hunter has tried to slow Khan down slightly, he has still shown the tendency (against Molina and Diaz) to jump in with combos, leave himself open and get tagged. I think Khan has always struggled with his range, and has gotten away with it because of his blinding speed, at 147 this problem is going to be magnified. The extra reach and size of his opponents will mean he is always going to be there to be hit when he is getting his punches off. Also Khans other weaknesses, his power and chin, will surely be made worse also by the move up. Im not convinced when they say he was cutting loads of weight for 140 as a reason for his chin, I only really heard him saying it after he started losing.
Some one with good timing and boxing brain, like Collazo for example, is going to be able to see Khans attacks coming (as he will have to start them from further out) and catch Khan on his way in or in between his punches.
If Khan and Hunter can prove me wrong then fair play, but based on what I've seen of Khan, and few fights hes had with Hunter, Im not confident he will react well to the move up in weight.


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