Amir Khan will defend his WBA light-welterweight title against Ireland?s Paul McCloskey in Manchester on Saturday night and stablemate Craig McEwan insists the Bolton fighter will be in the best shape of his life after a training camp in the Philippines.
Khan, who fights for the first time in the UK for over a year, has accompanied Manny Pacquiao to his homeland while the latter prepares for his May 7 bout against Shane Mosley.
Aside from being in peak condition, McEwan believes Khan will take confidence from his previous outing when he stood up to the heavy-handed Marcos Maidana in what was voted Fight of the Year 2010.
?Amir is on a high,? said McEwan. ?He has just boxed one of the hardest punchers in his weight division and got through it. Obviously he was bit shaky at the end but he showed he could stand there and take a big shot. So he has proved that to people.?
McEwan and Khan are both trained by Freddie Roach at his Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, California and the Edinburgh middleweight knows exactly how Team Khan will be preparing ahead of their title defence.
?With Freddie it?s all about the game plan. He puts the game plan in place, he watches, he watches every bit of you and when he sees a weakness he?ll tell you,? explained McEwan.
?I think [Khan] will be ready. He?s been in the Philippines with Manny [Pacquiao] as well. He?s been sparring with Manny so he?s going to be in the best shape of his life. I think also with the fight being in Manchester, which is just along from Bolton, it?s going to give him a boost.
?But McCloskey is not one to underestimate either. This is obviously going to be his big chance to shine and I?m sure he is going to push Amir the whole way. But the speed and power of Amir at the moment, you can?t stop that but it?s up to McCloskey to take it so best of luck to both of them.?
