With Amir Khan?s purse radically reduced for his fourth world title defence by dint of a television pay row, any scent of an early finish at the MEN Arena, Manchester, on Saturday night will be seized upon by the champion against unbeaten Irishman Paul McCloskey.
Bucks aside, Khan?s trainer, Freddie Roach, hinted as much on Friday. Roach, trainer of the year in America last year, insists his ?fighters make me great, not me? but he has in Khan, not to mention Manny Pacquiao, the two fighters with the fastest hand speed on the planet.
?We have a great plan,? Roach told Telegraph Sport. ?Yes, McCloskey has an awkward southpaw style, but he makes too many mistakes and we?re really going to take advantage of them. It was great for Amir?s confidence to come through those torrid rounds against Marcos Maidana in his last fight. Amir?s very aggressive, he wants to fight, it?s in his DNA.
?He?s like Manny Pacquaio in so many ways. He comes to fight like Manny Pacquiao, and that?s what the fans like and I?m not going to take that away from him. He should box a little more sometimes, fight a little smarter, but it?s in him to go out there and fight hard.?
Therein lies the poser for McCloskey, who likes to dictate a slower pace to a fight and use his reflexes and movement to react and counter-punch. Whatever elusiveness the man from Dungiven may have in his armoury, Khan?s yardstick is Pacquiao, his training partner, presently the sport?s most destructive boxer, pound-for-pound. Roach hinted that he will let Khan off the leash early in this fight.
