Although WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan who celebrates his 23rd birthday on December 9 is considered a tremendous prospect by trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning expert Alex Ariza, Roach concedes that pound-for-pound superstar Manny Pacquiao is twice as good as Khan.
Roach made the comment to the British newspaper The Sun after Khan retained his WBA title with a brutal 76 second stoppage of previously undefeated mandatory challenger Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle, England last Saturday.
Ariza said if Salita had any power at all, “he didn’t have a chance to demonstrate it because Amir was very quick.” He said they had been “ working on Khan’s punching power and wished they had a chance to show a little more of it.”
Roach said “if you compare the two, (Manny and Amir) Khan is “only halfway there” but conceded that he has trained the British Athens Olympic silver medalist for one year since his stunning first round KO lost to unheralded Breidis Prescott while he has had Pacquiao under his wings since the IBF super bantamweight title fight in which Pacquiao smashed champion Lelohonolo Ledwaba in six rounds in 2001.
Roach said “I’ve had him (Amir Khan) only for a year whereas its taken eight years to get Manny where he is today.”
In many respects Khan has bulked up like Pacquiao since Ariza pumps some 6,000 calories a day when in training for a fight.
Khan has moved up from lightweight to light welterweight and Roach believes this has helped in the young fighter’s development.
Roach was quoted by The Sun as saying “He (Khan) is much more resilient at 140 pounds. I think making 135 pounds was draining his body. He’s a lot stronger now.”
Roach wants to “ make him (Khan) a more complete fighter. He’s a long way off that, right now.”
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