Amir Khan: I'm not scared of Marcos Maidana's power
WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan has cast the baiting line.
In an L.A. press conference promoting his 11 December fight with interim champion Marcos Maidana, Khan said that because he has sparred with Manny Pacquiao and taken his best shots, he has no doubts about
being able to take Maidana’s.
"I'm not scared of anyone,” Khan boasted. “I'll fight anyone you put in front of me. When I beat Maidana, I want to let my fists do the talking, not my words. When people say I have a weak chin, I respond
by saying that Pacquiao gave me his best shot and couldn't wobble me.”
A flurry of intentions and promises were laid out at the conference, with both fighters appearing in good spirits. Maidana expressed satisfaction with fight finally happening, and Khan pledged that he
would show all he isn’t just a boxing brand name.
"“I felt Amir was scared of me because he wasn’t giving me the opportunity to fight him. It’s been almost a year and half since I won the interim title. I’m excited that we’re going to fight," said Maidana.
In the past Maidana has questioned Khan's chin, and while Khan is regarded as being the better technical boxer of the two, the big question of this fight is whether he can handle Maidana's power. In a
2008 bout Khan was expected to win against Breidis Prescott, he was instead knocked out in the first round.
Touching on that night, Khan said: "I'm going do something different in this fight, something nobody's ever seen me do. I'm changing my style. I'm going to come in and be the big puncher. This fight
is going to be explosive. Losing to Prescott made me realize how serious boxing is. I needed to train harder."
Richard Schaefer, to whom both fighters are employed, spoke about Khan’s explosiveness but also refused to underpreciate Maidana.
“We all know what happened when Maidana beat Victor Ortiz, one of the most exciting fighters in the sport. We know how hard Victor Ortiz hits. When he hits you, it's lights out. Marcos Maidana went
down three times but he got back up. Maidana can take a punch and he has the heart and the will to win and proved that against Ortiz,” he said.
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