Khan’s had a reboot – and now he’s ready
BY DAVID ANDERSON AMIR KHAN’s trainer Virgil Hunter claims he’s had to “reprogramme” the British fighter for Saturday’s showdown with Terence Crawford.
Hunter says he’s had to start from scratch because Khan’s forgotten much of what he taught him.
Khan was trained by Joe Goossen for his previous two fights when Hunter was ill last year.
And the American cornerman said: “Focus is Amir’s main Achilles’ heel.
“I used to tell him all the time, ‘I shouldn’t have to reprogramme you every time you come back to camp’.
“He’s never been a student of the game. He goes to camp, he’s very coachable, he gives it his all but you develop as a fighter in between fights.
“I used to encourage him to do mini-camps but there was always some business he needed to do.
“Amir has a wandering mind in the gym if you don’t constantly give him the focus. I had to bring all that back but I’m pleased with his progress.
“The sky is the limit with his ability but he can’t keep relying on his reflexes because that’s going to go.
“His physical ability is going to go but his brain can make that up.
“You can have an output of two minutes of every round, you might go down to one minute 30 seconds.
“The rest of the time, you have to compute what’s going on and control the situation. That comes with IQ.”
Hunter knows Khan must be fully switched on when he faces Crawford at Madison Square Garden.
He added: “Amir must be focused every second of every round and prepared for anything Crawford may do – switching, southpaw. We’ve prepared him for everything.”