Amir Khan fighting to no live fans: “Not sure if I’ll feel more pain in the fight”
Amir Khan takes on Kimihiro Eto at ONE Championship: King of the Jungle. It goes down on Friday, February 28th at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. This is a lightweight bout that will be contested at 170 lbs per ONE’s weight cutting practices. To the point of not having to do a water cut, Khan said “Definitely great because I walk around 81 kilos and 77 kilos is easy cut for me. Compared to 70 kilos some have to put on to get to lightweight. Makes life easier and keeps me fresher on fight night.”
ONE: King of the Jungle
In regards to Eto, the two men actually have a meaningful history together in the training room. Khan stated, “There’s not much footage of him but actually I trained with him for like a month. We exchanged sparring notes at the gym. So we’re both really familiar with each other’s styles. He’s more of a wrestler-grappler kind of syle. I’m more well rounded but I’m more comfortable in the striking exchange. So he knows I’m trying to keep it on the feet and I know he’s going to try to take me down.”
Amir Khan has made measurable strides in certain areas of his game which he’s looking to showcase at ONE: King of the Jungle. Khan remarked, “Putting on the pressure more. So pressure striking. I improved a lot in that sense. I kind of got back my confidence in my striking. Walking people down.”
Amir Khan snapped a three-fight losing skid in his last outing, defeating Ev Ting via split decision at ONE Edge of Greatness. Khan quipped, “Definitely a sigh of relief. Before that when I was on a losing streak, I was too focused on the loss you know? I still didn’t really get over the loss until the last fight. After last fight I ook a vacation and I kind of reanalyzed my year. Realized I was kind of clinging on to the past….Right now I’m just starting fresh.”
Amir Khan
Amir Khan is looking to keep that traction going by having a memorable campaign all through 2020. Khan said, “Finish anyone they put me in front of. So I’m not really looking at a particular opponent. I’m just looking at how I’m going to fight on that night. I want that good performance this year every fight.”
ONE Championship is also faced with a unique situation with this particular card. The venue will also be vacant on fight night. As a precautionary measure against Coronavirus, there will be no fans live in attendance for these bouts on February 28th.
Khan stated, “For me, it’s a different experience. All I can say is in my mind, I haven’t experienced this before. In my mind, I’m just going to take it as another sparring match. It’s another sparring match I’m going to do next weekend in Singapore…Sometimes you don’t feel pain while fighting because of all the adrenaline you get from the fans and the energy from a stadium. So I’m not sure if I’ll feel more pain in the fight.”
