Freddie Roach on Khan’s failure to prevent Garcia knockout – Boxing News
Hall of Famer trainer Freddie Roach believes Amir Khan’s knockout was a fluke for Garcia. According to Roach, it was Khan’s blunder that got him in trouble, and was nothing genius on Garcia’s side.
“It's just a situation where Amir got caught. He made a mistake and he got caught by a left hook. He went out there a little too early and he got caught. We had planned to out-box this guy,” said Roach in an interview recently.
Amir Khan was knocked out by Danny Garcia in the fourth round of the title unification bout on July 14 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Khan was defending his WBA light welterweight title, while Garcia was defending his WBC light welterweight
title. In addition, Ring Magazine’s title was on the line too.
“But then Amir started to exchange with him. That's when he got caught pulling away. He had his hand down. That's something that we worked on during the fight, but it happens. This happens in boxing,” Roach added.
Moreover, Roach agrees to the fact that the trash-talk by Danny’s father Angel Garcia got Khan agitated, which became the main reason behind Khan’s aggression.
“I think that Garcia's dad got under Amir's skin a little bit. He got a little emotional about it. I think that the father really got to him,” said Roach while talking about Garcia’s trash-talk.
According to Roach, Angel Garcia attacked Khan’s religion and his Pakistani descent, which made Khan play emotionally.
Roach appreciated Khan’s performance in the first two rounds, but condemned his aggression in the third and fourth round. He had already warned Khan of not letting his aggression overtake him in the ring, revealed Roach.
For now, Roach believes Khan has a lot more to do in the sport. On Khan’s retirement issue, Roach said Khan is a natural fighter and he is just 25, and so he has a lot to do in the sport. According to Roach, such incidents happen in the sport but that should
not be a reason to hang up your gloves for good.
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