credit itv.com/boxing
Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan will be happy if his sixth professional opponent Jackson Williams takes him the full six rounds at London's ExCel Arena on Saturday.
Khan knocked out Vitali Martynov, from Belarus, after 75 seconds of the opening round in his first scheduled six-rounder in Nottingham last month.
But the 19-year-old said: "I'm going to go in and box Williams. I want to see if I can go the six rounds - but if I catch him with a good early shot you don't know what might happen.
"I never go for the knockout but if it comes and they go, then they go."
The Bolton teenager has no worries about going the distance. "I've been training hard and I feel fit and strong.
"I feel a lot fitter than the last fight because I've maintained my training since then," he said.
Martynov came with an impressive-looking 10 victories from 11 fights but his record flattered to deceive and he folded under the first attack, prompting criticism from certain quarters - fiercely resisted by promoter Frank Warren - about the standard of his rising star's opponents.
But Amir insists he is not bothered by the issue. "I just caught him with a good shot and he went. That's boxing for you. One punch can change a fight.
"My warm-up was harder than the fight but I think it was good knocking him out in the first round because you save the energy," he said before working out at the Pea**** Gymnasium in London's East End.
Williams, a trainee teacher at a Norwich college, looks Khan's best opponent to date, with 12 victories from his 15 fights.
"It's going to be a tough fight - Williams is a tough lad. This is a very big chance for him too. It's being televised and he isn't coming in the ring to fall over. He's a teacher so he'll get some stick if he does," pointed out Khan.
He will be ready if Williams, a long-distance runner who aims to do a charity run of 3,000 miles across America next year, tries to keep away from him.
"My running shoes are always on," countered Khan. "But if he comes to me, I'll just keep picking him so many times that I'll get bored of hitting him and then I think he'll retire," said Khan, who claims his power has increased significantly after only five professional fights, only one of which - the second four-rounder against Baz Carey - has gone the distance.
"I'm hitting a lot harder. If I'd been this strong at the Athens Olympics I'd have knocked more than one boxer out.
"I've adapted my footwork and my punches are a lot harder now. My first fight was like my amateur fights. I went in there with fast feet and fast hands but now I've slowed it down so I'm adapting to it and getting more power into my shots," said Khan who admitted he has surprised himself with the rate of his improvement.
Some of that has come from watching videos of his favourite American fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jnr, Oscar De La Hoya and Thomas Hearns.
"I watch people who box loose like me. Watching different boxers you learn how they cope when they are under pressure. It's the little things, you pick up. the good things but you also look at the bad things and think 'I won't do that'," he added.
Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan will be happy if his sixth professional opponent Jackson Williams takes him the full six rounds at London's ExCel Arena on Saturday.
Khan knocked out Vitali Martynov, from Belarus, after 75 seconds of the opening round in his first scheduled six-rounder in Nottingham last month.
But the 19-year-old said: "I'm going to go in and box Williams. I want to see if I can go the six rounds - but if I catch him with a good early shot you don't know what might happen.
"I never go for the knockout but if it comes and they go, then they go."
The Bolton teenager has no worries about going the distance. "I've been training hard and I feel fit and strong.
"I feel a lot fitter than the last fight because I've maintained my training since then," he said.
Martynov came with an impressive-looking 10 victories from 11 fights but his record flattered to deceive and he folded under the first attack, prompting criticism from certain quarters - fiercely resisted by promoter Frank Warren - about the standard of his rising star's opponents.
But Amir insists he is not bothered by the issue. "I just caught him with a good shot and he went. That's boxing for you. One punch can change a fight.
"My warm-up was harder than the fight but I think it was good knocking him out in the first round because you save the energy," he said before working out at the Pea**** Gymnasium in London's East End.
Williams, a trainee teacher at a Norwich college, looks Khan's best opponent to date, with 12 victories from his 15 fights.
"It's going to be a tough fight - Williams is a tough lad. This is a very big chance for him too. It's being televised and he isn't coming in the ring to fall over. He's a teacher so he'll get some stick if he does," pointed out Khan.
He will be ready if Williams, a long-distance runner who aims to do a charity run of 3,000 miles across America next year, tries to keep away from him.
"My running shoes are always on," countered Khan. "But if he comes to me, I'll just keep picking him so many times that I'll get bored of hitting him and then I think he'll retire," said Khan, who claims his power has increased significantly after only five professional fights, only one of which - the second four-rounder against Baz Carey - has gone the distance.
"I'm hitting a lot harder. If I'd been this strong at the Athens Olympics I'd have knocked more than one boxer out.
"I've adapted my footwork and my punches are a lot harder now. My first fight was like my amateur fights. I went in there with fast feet and fast hands but now I've slowed it down so I'm adapting to it and getting more power into my shots," said Khan who admitted he has surprised himself with the rate of his improvement.
Some of that has come from watching videos of his favourite American fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jnr, Oscar De La Hoya and Thomas Hearns.
"I watch people who box loose like me. Watching different boxers you learn how they cope when they are under pressure. It's the little things, you pick up. the good things but you also look at the bad things and think 'I won't do that'," he added.