AMIR KHAN RECAPS THURMAN VS. GUERRERO: "KEITH THURMAN, IN MY OPINION, IS PROBABLY A SIX-ROUND FIGHTER"
By Ben Thompson | March 11, 2015
BT: Amir, did you get a chance to see Thurman vs. Guerrero?
AK: Yeah, I saw the fight.
BT: What did you think?
AK: Guerrero, I think, showed that he got old overnight in that fight. Obviously he's still a good fighter, but he just didn't have it in him. That youth, it wasn't there that's normally there. He seemed to be winging a lot and he was a little bit on his back foot. Maybe the power thing about Keith Thurman knocking everyone out kind of got to his head. He kind of thought you have to be careful here and he was a little bit worried with that. But overall, I think Keith just did what he had to do. I mean, he won the fight. He was getting caught a few times, Keith, but I think he won the fight comfortably and it was a fight that maybe was another step forward for him for bigger fights in the future.
BT: When another fighter is being touted as a big puncher, a knockout artist, is that something that you, being a fellow fighter, pay any attention to?
AK: Yeah, all the time. I always think of it in a way where if I was fighting him, what would I do? Obviously with Keith, when he punches, he has to stand in one place and throw his shot. If a guy fights him with fast foot movement, head movement, and just keeps him turning, then he can't really settle. And I think body shots is what also gives him problems. I mean, the only time Keith gets good success is if you stand there and let him throw combinations, you know, and I think that's what Guerrero was doing; just standing there and taking punches. Obviously, round by round, that was affecting him in a way. That was taking it's affect. I think that's when he [Thurman] was getting a lot of his benefit from; just him [Guerrero] standing there in front of those big shots, them big bombs. It didn't seem like it was hurting him, but in the later rounds, it was taking it's affect.
BT: It seemed like Thurman brought the heat in the early rounds, but then he switched it up and started boxing more in the later rounds. Did you notice anything during the course of the fight that made him switch his game plan?
AK: Keith Thurman, in my opinion, is probably a six-round fighter. He's very good for the first six rounds and then he hits that wall, and then he gets on his bike and has to become a boxer. You see him towards the end of the fight, the last six rounds, he was not really putting that pressure on. He was being pressured himself. He was the one that was being put on the ropes. Look, end of the day, look, he's got a style where he's quite quick and obviously when he does hit a guy, he's going to hurt them. He throws them hard shots early and there's only very few fighters who can take them hard shots, so most of them give up. But with Guerrero, he gained that respect; he stood there and stayed strong, and then we saw a little bit more of Keith Thurman. He is a bit of a boxer when he wants to be. When he knows that he's having problems, he'll get on his back foot and he'll start moving around.
http://fighthype.com/news/article19635.html
Khan taking shots?
But, is he gonna get in the RING with Thurman and see if he's a 6 round fighter or not?
By Ben Thompson | March 11, 2015
BT: Amir, did you get a chance to see Thurman vs. Guerrero?
AK: Yeah, I saw the fight.
BT: What did you think?
AK: Guerrero, I think, showed that he got old overnight in that fight. Obviously he's still a good fighter, but he just didn't have it in him. That youth, it wasn't there that's normally there. He seemed to be winging a lot and he was a little bit on his back foot. Maybe the power thing about Keith Thurman knocking everyone out kind of got to his head. He kind of thought you have to be careful here and he was a little bit worried with that. But overall, I think Keith just did what he had to do. I mean, he won the fight. He was getting caught a few times, Keith, but I think he won the fight comfortably and it was a fight that maybe was another step forward for him for bigger fights in the future.
BT: When another fighter is being touted as a big puncher, a knockout artist, is that something that you, being a fellow fighter, pay any attention to?
AK: Yeah, all the time. I always think of it in a way where if I was fighting him, what would I do? Obviously with Keith, when he punches, he has to stand in one place and throw his shot. If a guy fights him with fast foot movement, head movement, and just keeps him turning, then he can't really settle. And I think body shots is what also gives him problems. I mean, the only time Keith gets good success is if you stand there and let him throw combinations, you know, and I think that's what Guerrero was doing; just standing there and taking punches. Obviously, round by round, that was affecting him in a way. That was taking it's affect. I think that's when he [Thurman] was getting a lot of his benefit from; just him [Guerrero] standing there in front of those big shots, them big bombs. It didn't seem like it was hurting him, but in the later rounds, it was taking it's affect.
BT: It seemed like Thurman brought the heat in the early rounds, but then he switched it up and started boxing more in the later rounds. Did you notice anything during the course of the fight that made him switch his game plan?
AK: Keith Thurman, in my opinion, is probably a six-round fighter. He's very good for the first six rounds and then he hits that wall, and then he gets on his bike and has to become a boxer. You see him towards the end of the fight, the last six rounds, he was not really putting that pressure on. He was being pressured himself. He was the one that was being put on the ropes. Look, end of the day, look, he's got a style where he's quite quick and obviously when he does hit a guy, he's going to hurt them. He throws them hard shots early and there's only very few fighters who can take them hard shots, so most of them give up. But with Guerrero, he gained that respect; he stood there and stayed strong, and then we saw a little bit more of Keith Thurman. He is a bit of a boxer when he wants to be. When he knows that he's having problems, he'll get on his back foot and he'll start moving around.
http://fighthype.com/news/article19635.html
Khan taking shots?
But, is he gonna get in the RING with Thurman and see if he's a 6 round fighter or not?
