Khan confirms change in trainer

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Yesterday Khan confirmed he'll be going to NY to talk to a few coaches and admitted that he needs to work on his defence, which explains his desire to move away from Roach.

He also comically paired himself with Manny in his talk:

"If we had the defense we should have had we would be the best fighter in the world. That’s the downfall of me and Manny Pacquiao. We’re both offensively the best fighters in the world, but defensively we’re not the best.”

Source, Eastside Boxing

15th December is being lined up for his next fight with an opponant due to be announced soon.

Who would you want his his new trainer (assuming he does ditch Roach) and who would you want as his next opponant.

I think Steward or Richardson would be good, albeit Steward could make him very dull!

As for an opponant I would like him to avenge a defeat and Peterson would be good. I'm not sure on his ban but 15th Dec would be over a 12 months from his last fight but not sure what his ban is?

Id like to see the full segment of the interview if there was one. This looks like a quote taken in isolation which could make Khan appear worse than he is.

Reading between the lines I would say that Khan is actually taking responsibility for improving himself by looking for a new trainer. If the relationship with his trainer or your level of confidence in him deteriorates then there is no point carrying on with them. If Kahn was being delusional then I think he woul be writing off that loss as a "lucky punch" and not looking to change but the fact he recognises his defence is a weakness shows that he understands he needs to address this.

After two straight losses to divisional rivals I dont really see the issue with changing trainers although I think the issue of how much unrealised potential Khan has is unclear. In terms of reaching top pound for pound fighter material I would be skeptical if any trainer can bring him to that level.

I think he should have realised he needed to work on his defense long before now though, whether that is with a new trainer or not. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

Better now than never though, I guess. Defence is a fairly expansive concept in boxing. More than anything I think Khan needs to be more controlled and disciplined in the ring. He has some great physical attributes but the mental part of his game seems very suspect.

True Manos, even if he works at his defense he also needs to be more disciplined in the ring and stick to a game plan.

manny or richardson would be ideal trainers for khan. but is it possible his change of trainers has as much to do with having to tighten the purse strings as it does in tightening the defense. khans stock has surely taken a bashing from his consecutive defeats, maybe he needs a couple of low key fights to get his way back up, and cant justify roaches high fees. just a thought...

I don't see any trainer making Khan the fighter he thinks he is, I just don't see him being that good. GBP have made him into the next p4p legend purley because they see him as a cash cow, not based on any talent or stand out victories. People with weakish chins who go on to be successful such as Hearns or even WK (who I don't actually think is chinny but nevermind) have other attributes to offset it, such as long reaches or massive power or great footwork. Khan has none of these IMO. He dones't hit hard enough to keep the best fighters off him, he doesn't have the footwork to effectively keep out of range and control the tempo of fights and he isn't cleaver enough to keep to a game plan the way WK does. This lack of intelligence is his biggest weakness IMO, he is too quick to mix it up and with that chin he will always come unstuck in a war.

I've read a lot of people say Steward is the answer, largly based on his work with Lewis and Wlad, but the difference is those two fighters were thinking fighters (hence the suggestions of them being boring), Khan doesn't think too much, he is more instinctive.

I think Khan is about as good a boxer as he will ever be, he won't be troubling the Mayweather's of the world anytime soon.