AMIR KHAN?S TRAINER SAYS HIS FIGHTER LACKS A ?KILLER INSTINCT?
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 07 May 2016
Khan and Hunter.
On the eve of his fight against the bigger, stronger WBC middleweight champion Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez, Amir Khan's trainer Virgil Hunter admits his fighter lacks a "killer instinct."
The two clash in the inauguration of the spanking, new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas which can accommodate around 22,000 fight fans.
TV 5, the Rio 2016 Olympic network will carry the fight on a delayed basis at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday while ABS-CBN Sky Sports will telecast the fight on pay-per-view starting an 9:00 a.m. for a fee of P199.
The 29 year old Athens Olympic Games silver medalist is moving up two weight divisions to challenge the popular Mexican champion at an agreed catch-weight of 155 pounds although Alvarez is expected to rehydrate to around 175 pounds at fight time which would give him a massive advantage.
Hunter told BBC Sport ?killer instinct has to be in you, you can?t call it up? noting that ?you see some kids in the gym and they want to hurt somebody. That?s killer instinct.
He noted "If they get beaten up they're back the next day, with a vengeance. That's a trait."
The American was appointed as Khan?s trainer following Khan?s 4th round TKO loss to Danny Garcia in 2012.
Although Hunter conceded that ?Canelo? Alvarez ?could win the fight convincingly? he added that personally he doesn?t think ?Canelo? is very good.
Since his stoppage loss to Garcia, Khan has won all his five fights since them but is a heavy underdog against Alvarez whose only loss in 48 fights ads a pro was against unbeaten pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
Mayweather retired after beating Andre Berto handily in his last fight.
Khan earlier conceded he didn?t have the power to hurt Alvarez and would have to rely on his hand-speed to hopefully score a twelve round decision which, even then, would be considered a stunning upset.
However, trainer Hunter claims Khan?s body punching was as good as anyone?s pointing out that "His left hook to the liver matches anything,. The punch he put Marcos Maidana down with was as good as anything I've seen. He can really hit to the body. But I don't advise him to trade punches with Alvarez, because he's giving up too much size."
The BBC reported that American boxing great Bernard Hopkins has compared Khan to Welshman Joe Calzaghe, who beat Hopkins in Vegas in 2008. He said "Canelo is definitely the most powerful of the two, But Khan's volume of punches reminds me of Joe Calzaghe. He's a guy who swarms you with punches so that by the time you get your bearings, the fight's over.?
Hopkins added "You're not going to die, you didn't get hurt, but you've got so many bee stings you don't know where to scratch. You just know you've got to get the hell out of there.?
However, Hopkins predicts ?Canelo? will win by a knockout in the 9th or 10th round.?
"But Canelo wins on Saturday by knockout, in the ninth or 10th round."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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