"No one's faster than Amir Khan. There are some who are quicker, and that's one thing that we're working on now. You know, speed is in the body; quickness is in the mind. It comes from repetition and that's one thing we are working with Amir on now is drills and repetition; things he's never done before. But I have to be honest with you, I've seen him do some things in spurts, maybe get off a 6, 7-punch combination or something, and I'm not talking about these push ones that people try to tease him about; I mean real, accurate, professional combinations, you know, that are thrown correctly, and combination for combination, nobody is faster than him from the time his hands leave to the time they get to the target," stated world-class trainer Virgil Hunter, who shared his thoughts on one of Amir Khan's best attributes, his speed. Check out what he had to say!
BT: Manny Pacquiao still looked fast and quick in his performance against Brandon Rios. Who would you say is faster, Manny or Amir?
VH: No one's faster than Amir Khan. There are some who are quicker, and that's one thing that we're working on now. You know, speed is in the body; quickness is in the mind. It comes from repetition and that's one thing we are working with Amir on now is drills and repetition; things he's never done before. But I have to be honest with you, I've seen him do some things in spurts, maybe get off a 6, 7-punch combination or something, and I'm not talking about these push ones that people try to tease him about; I mean real, accurate, professional combinations, you know, that are thrown correctly, and combination for combination, nobody is faster than him from the time his hands leave to the time they get to the target. But Floyd, like I tell Amir, I'm being honest with him, "Floyd is a little bit quicker than you because they process quicker." See, so, if he can get that quickness with that speed, he'll be a hard guy to deal with, you know.
But he's...I would say him and Manny, I think Amir might be faster than Manny from the time the punch leaves to the time it gets to the target, but of course there are other things that can make one side or the other effective, and Amir is still a pup in this game. He went a long way on natural talent and he's got an upside. I know people count him out and make fun of him, they ridicule him and things like that, but they are very serious about his place in boxing, and he's easy to coach, and he gave me his word and he's kept his word, so he has an upside because he's doing things now that he never did before in terms of drills and repetition over and over and over again, and the commitment. He's committed, so I think that he has a large upside. He has more upside than them if he can stay on track and really lock in and focus in like he's been doing. And between you and I, I've seen a tremendous difference, not because of me, but because of his commitment to get better. Like he said, he never knew he was supposed to train in between fights, you know, or do stuff between fights. He never knew it and he never did it; nobody ever asked him to do it.
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