Friday, July 17, 2009

'Mature' Khan targets world title

WBA light-welterweight: Amir Khan v Andreas Kotelnik
Venue: MEN Arena, Manchester Date: Saturday 18 July Start: From 2245 BST Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sport website, live on Sky Box Office

Amir Khan and WBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik
Kotelnik has only lost twice in his 34-fight career

Amir Khan believes his defeat by Breidis Prescott last September has helped his world title chances.

The 22-year-old from Bolton takes on champion Andreas Kotelnik at Manchester's MEN Arena on Saturday for the WBA light-welterweight title.

"The Prescott fight made me change from a boy to a man, it took me out of my comfort zone," he admitted.

Khan weighed in for his first fight in the division at 139¼lbs, comfortably inside the 140lbs limit.

Kotelnik needed to strip completely but made the weight without having to sweat off any excess.

Khan's hopes of a first world title seemed distant when unheralded Colombian Prescott knocked him out in less than a minute last September.

Since then, Khan has relocated to the United States and hired revered trainer Freddie Roach, and he beat Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera earlier this year.

Hopefully when I wake up on Sunday morning I'll be a world champion

Amir Khan

Saturday's fight against Ukrainian Kotelnik, who has lost only twice in his 34-fight career, is a tough challenge and victory could see him lined up for a lucrative fight against former undisputed light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton.

And despite the Prescott loss, Khan insisted he never doubted he would achieve his dreams.

"I knew that within a year I'd still become a world champion," he said.

"I know people didn't think I'd become a world champion - even people probably in my own camp, my own team, didn't think I'd become a world champion this quickly.

"I made one mistake but I've proved everyone wrong by beating Barrera and now fighting for a world title and hopefully when I wake up on Sunday morning I'll be a world champion.

"When you lose a fight you look at the mistakes and everything. I'm a different fighter, a different person and the way I fight now is totally different."

And Khan believes a world belt will help him break the American market.

"This is a fight that is going to catapult me to the bigger fights. I need to win this fight to take me to the next level," he said.

"This [the bout against Kotelnik] is the biggest fight at the moment - for a world title - then I can plan out where I want to go from there. There's a lot of pressure on me and I need to win this fight to get me to the places I want to get to.

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"I want my fights to be shown on American TV, that's a big thing for me - more attention in America, and then I'll go over there and fight. Everyone's dream is to fight in Las Vegas and I want to fight in Vegas."

Roach expects his charge to flourish at light-welterweight and believes that sophisticated footwork will be Khan's best asset in defeating the experienced Ukrainian.

Roach said: "He has to use his foot speed and his lateral movement to win this fight.

"Kotelnik is the type of a fighter that if you throw combinations at him and stand there, he'll throw back. He's a moving counter-puncher, he's got that classic defence and blocks well and you wear yourself out on him."

Roach also believes that Khan has settled well into his American surroundings.

"It's a good training camp for him because he has a lot of distractions in Bolton and I've learnt that over the last two weeks," he said.

"It's good for him to get into a training camp where he concentrates on fights and doesn't have any friends there and so forth to call him and take him out.

"It's a good training camp. Los Angeles is not like a typical training camp but Manny Pacquiao [who beat Hatton in two rounds in May] and Amir Khan use it as their home so it works for them."


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