Virgil Hunter believes Khan is not ready yet for inside fighting – Boxing News
Although Briton fighter Amir Khan demonstrated impressive boxing past Saturday against American opponent Carlos Molina, his trainer still believes, he has a long way to go before making it to perfection. According to Virgil Hunter, Khan’s newly hired trainer,
the former champion needs to learn boxing on the inside before facing fiercer opponents.
“Amir’s not ready to fight on the inside yet,” said Hunter, who follows old-school boxing techniques that allow fighters to fight better in close range with their elbows being tucked in.
“He has to understand the inside before he is ready to fight on the inside. I have not implemented any of those tactics with him yet,” he added.
Hunter was last year’s trainer of the year. Khan hired him following his knockout defeat to American unbeaten fighter Danny Garcia. Back then, Khan was training with Hall of Famer coach Freddie Roach.
“What I have done on the inside with him is work on escape routes. Fighting on the inside takes a lot of practice. We are talking about a kid who has quick feet, quick reflexes and quick reactions,” said Hunter.
“Right now, he doesn’t have to fight on the inside. All he has to do is move and get out of the way. I wanted to make it very simple that he didn’t have to do anything he had to stop and think about.”
Khan is eager to take on Danny Garcia, the fighter who left his career in jeopardy after knocking him out in the fourth round.
Khan defeated Carlos Molina to make a statement. He is back, even though Molina was not up to his calibre. Khan, who wanted to show the world that he still has it in him, outboxed Molina for ten straight rounds, winning each one.
Right from the start, Molina was blooded with Khan’s blows but the Briton was not knocking him out. He was pursuing a more composed boxing game, which according to him is a blessing from Hunter.
It seems like following this win, Khan still needs to prove himself to Hunter if he wants to get on the top again.
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