 |
| Sky Box Office/PA Wire/PA |
Khan is a former junior welterweight champion who lost his last bout by a fourth-round knockout at the hands of Danny Garcia in July.
Khan had worked with the Hall of Fame trainer for four years and captured two world championship belts under Roach’s tutelage.
Khan announced on Sept. 14 that he was ending their working relationship, at least for the time being. The 52-year-old Roach, who has been named boxing trainer of the year five times, said Khan called him on the phone and broke the news. However, it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to him since boxing insiders have reported for the last two months that Khan would be parting ways with the trainer.
Roach, who also trains Julio Cesar Chavez and Manny Pacquiao, said that Khan told him that he understands he’s busy training his other fighters and said it was just time for them to go in their own directions.
Roach added that the conversation was professional and Khan told him there weren’t any hard feelings and they may possibly work together again in the future. He stated that he wished Khan luck in the future and the boxer was nice to him, but he understood where he was coming from since he’s been fired before.
Khan made the announcement via his Twitter account when he wrote that he’d had a professional conversation with the trainer and had officially left him. He also added that the two may work together in the future.
Khan said that Roach understands why he’s looking at working with other trainers The 25-year-old boxer from Bolton, England hasn’t hooked up with a new trainer as of yet, but has been meeting potential candidates in New York recently.
The name being thrown about by boxing experts is Virgil Hunter, who was last year’s recipient of the trainer-of-the-year award, and trains super middleweight titleholder Andre Ward.
Hunter reportedly travelled to New York after Ward stopped WBC Light Heavyweight belt holder Chad Dawson on September 8 and met with Khan while working out with him. However, Pedro Diaz, who trains Miguel Cotto, is also being mentioned in boxing circles as a possible replacement for Roach.
Khan won a silver medal for Britain in the 2004 Olympic Games, but his early pro career was derailed when he was knocked out in the first round in 2008 by Breidis Prescott.
Khan then hired Roach as his trainer and won a Jr. welterweight world title a year later when he beat Andriy Kotelnik by decision. He defended his crown five times and then unified the belts and was recognized as the WBA and IBF champion.
Lamont Peterson upset him in a title fight last December, but Peterson then failed his drug test. Khan was reinstated as the WBA champion, but was knocked out in the fourth round in July by WBC titleholder Danny Garcia.
Khan said he’s hoping to find a trainer that can spend more time with him in one-on-one sessions. With Roach, his training sessions often took place at the same time the trainer was working with Chavez or Pacquiao.
FeedCrossing is a partner of FootBasket. You can see more about them at their website.
