"I'll just say this, he will have to fight a different fight...Amir will cause him some problems, and if he gets in a groove, he'll cause him quite a bit of problems because of the styles. He will have to use a different tool to win that fight...with Amir, it's going to boil down to more things than that. It's gonna be can Floyd solve this kid's speed? Can Floyd keep up with his youthfulness? Can Floyd come from behind to win a fight? Can he slip 4 and 5? Can Floyd get away from 4 and 5...Amir, he'll be back in January and he's determined to win that fight if he gets that fight. This fight, I'm telling you, is going to really be an eye-opener. It's going to be a great fight. Anybody who has a boxing mind and knows styles, they know that styles make fights," stated world-class trainer Virgil Hunter, who talked more about a potential showdown between undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd "Money" Mayweather and his fighter, former jr. welterweight champion Amir Khan. Check out what else he had to say!
BT: When you hear some people say that they'd rather see Maidana get the shot at Floyd, is that surprising considering that his style is...
VH: (Cutting in) The same straight ahead plodding that Floyd is a master at controlling ever since he's come up. People don't realize that at Floyd's weight, when he was a featherweight coming through the amateur ranks, his weight dictated that he fought a lot of Hispanic styles. So he's very accustomed to that. He's one of few Midwest fighters that can handle that rough and tough Hispanic style. If you look at the history of a lot of Midwest fighters, they can't handle that style; and I can give you name after name after name. Even though Roger says the best fighters come from the Midwest, they still have a problem handling that rough and tough style. Floyd is the only one, and possibly Aaron Pryor, although I don't know who he ran into that offered that type of style, but they're the only ones that I see that mastered that particular maulin' brawlin' punching style. I can name you Midwestern fighter after Midwestern fighter that couldn't handle it; from Iran Barkley to Thomas Hearns to, if you wanna go back, to Archie Moore and Marciano, Ezzard Charles and Marciano. I can go on and on and on if I stop and think...so it goes on and on and on. Even Mickey [Bey], who was pitching out a shutout; he was always just a little bit off of Molina's style. Floyd has mastered it though because coming through that amateur system like he does, it's a piece of a cake for him.
BT: Do you think Amir's hand speed and combination punching could potentially keep Mayweather on the defensive long enough to win some close rounds in the eyes of the judges?
VH: Well, I have my theories and I really can't let them out in case, you know, that fight comes about. I'll just say this, he will have to fight a different fight. You're talking to a man who could've been a professional athlete in two sports, but blew it, so I've been an athlete at 37, so I was still playing a high, high level of basketball at 36 and 37, so I know the body pretty good and there was some guys that I could do certain things with and there was some other guys that I couldn't. And I was considered to be very quick, but hey, at 37 years old, when you go up against quickness, you do have to make adjustments. And I'm sure that he's going to prepare for that, but the duplicate is not better than the original. Amir will cause him some problems, and if he gets in a groove, he'll cause him quite a bit of problems because of the styles. He will have to use a different tool to win that fight.
BT: If critics were always right, we would've never got the chance to see upsets like Douglas/Tyson, Mayorga/Forrest, Tarver/Jones, or even Maidana/Broner. Do you think people can be too quick sometimes to write a fighter off based on one or two bad nights at the office?
VH: Well, you know, today's boxing fan is a fickle group and they don't really look at the logistics of this sport. I mean, who can explain Buster Douglas whippin' Mike Tyson. Who can explain that? Nobody saw Shawn beting Devon. Nobody saw Maidana beating Broner. Nobody saw that. So boxing critics and fickle boxing fans really need to take a step back and say, "You know what? Maybe I don't know everything about this sport." It's great to have an opinion; then have an opinion, but, you know, when you do, state that it is your opinion. Don't come off as an expert because Maidana is going to be the same ol' dance, the same ol' tune, and that's not taking anything away from Maidana. He's a great fighter. He's got a great coach. But it's gonna be the same old tune and all it's gonna boil down to is, "He's got a puncher's chance." That's what it's gonna boil down to. But with Amir, it's going to boil down to more things than that. It's gonna be can Floyd solve this kid's speed? Can Floyd keep up with his youthfulness? Can Floyd come from behind to win a fight? Can he slip 4 and 5? Can Floyd get away from 4 and 5?
BT: Okay, so tell today's boxing fan why they don't want to miss a Mayweather vs. Khan clash!
VH: You know what's so funny, Ben? After Floyd fights, they all say the same thing. The first thing they come up with is Floyd's speed; his speed. So quite naturally, everybody that's gone in there against him, he's faster than they are. So every reporter and every person that analysis after Floyd's fight, they can only come up with one thing. "Oh, his speed was intact. He was just too fast, too quick on defense." Well, this is the first fight you won't be able to say that. You're gonna have to say something else. If Floyd beats Amir Khan, you're not going to be able to say speed did it because he does not have the speed advantage here. They're going to have to say he did something else.
Amir, he'll be back in January and he's determined to win that fight if he gets that fight. This fight, I'm telling you, is going to really be an eye-opener. It's going to be a great fight. Anybody who has a boxing mind and knows styles, they know that styles make fights, and these particular styles say automatically it's not going to be a chess match. It's gonna be a dogfight, and what I mean by that is it's not gonna be any slugging, but it's gonna be a busy, busy fight. Because Amir, once he's in a groove, he's not the kind of kid you can lay back and rest on and take a break on. You're going to have to defend yourself, so it's going to be constant. The world needs to see that fight.
You have to go to the Emanuel Burton fight too, which was very interesting during that time; a man who was capable of throwing 4 or 5 punches. It was a very tough fight for Floyd, that fight right there. He admitted it himself. Of course that fight helped Floyd grow leaps and bounds because of the toughness of that fight. So I know Floyd has been in that type of fight before, but he hasn't been in it at 37, and as great an athlete as he is, you can't get around that. You can slow the clock, but you can't stop it, and Amir, with his youth, with his length, with his speed, with the belief that he can win; he's not just gonna look up and be happy to be there, he's coming to win the fight. It's gonna be an interesting fight. I pretty much guarantee that.
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