“If I beat Amir Khan I don’t think Freddie Roach will put Manny Pacquiao in the ring with me”
Regarding rumors of a potential unification match between him and Amir Khan:
“I think that’s going to be the next fight. They’re planning for July 23. We’re trying to get that fight made. You know Amir Khan has a fight in April. God willing he’ll get through that fight unscathed and we’ll be meeting July 23. I think it’s going to be a great showdown. I think Amir Khan brings a lot to the table and I’m ready to show you who the best junior middleweight in the world is.”
Whether he worries that Amir Khan could get injured or lose in his April fight against Paul McCloskey:
“Yeah. Anything can happen in boxing. It takes just one punch to win a fight and I’m just hoping everything lines up perfectly. I hope he doesn’t get injured and like you said nothing is for sure in boxing, but Amir Khan can’t run anywhere else, I mean he has to go through me if he wants to be considered the best fighter in the world at 140 pound. I think he has really no other option but to fight me. So I don’t think he’s going to run. I think he wants the fight. He said it out of his mouth that he wants to fight me and he’s willing to do that July 23. So hey, let’s do it then!”
On what it would mean to get the opportunity to face Khan in a unification fight:
“Yeah I believe it was after I fought against Lamont Peterson, we were trying to get in the ring with Amir Khan. That’s when he was with Frank Warren and then he transferred and went over to Golden Boy and Golden Boy just wasn’t interested at the time. So I mean finally now, it’s come to this point. I did everything that he pretty much asked me to do. I fought Devon Alexander, he fought against Marcos Maidana and he said the winner should face the winner. I won, he won, hey! Now let’s have a showdown!”
His views on fans who were critical of his unification fight against Devon Alexander:
“I can’t make Devon fight a fight. I came to fight. I can’t make Devon fight. I took it to him from the opening bell. Stylistically the fight wasn’t a good matchup. I look back at it. It is what it is. I got the victory. That’s all that matters to me anyway and I’m ready to show the fans what I really can do by beating Amir Khan. So they have a lot to look forward to. Amir Khan I think has the perfect style for my style. Amir Khan, like I said he brings a lot to the table. He’s very active. He’s trained by one of the best trainers in the world. He’s an Olympic Silver Medalist. I mean the guy brings a lot to the table and that’s a big challenge for me, and I’ll definitely be up for the challenge.”
On whether he feels he is not receiving due credit for beating the undefeated Alexander in a unification clash:
“At first I was but now I’m like whatever. There are always going to be doubters out there. Everybody is not going to like me and like my style, but for the boxing fans that do I really appreciate them. It’s time to move on. Devon Alexander was like a month or so ago. I’m over the fact. I got the win. I’m settling in and now I’m moving on to bigger and better things.”
On whether he believed his fight with Alexander would be more competitive going into it:
“You know what? I did. Honestly I felt like the fight was going to be tougher. My trainer going into the fight told me that it was going to be the easiest fight that I’ve ever had in my entire career, and I looked at him like he was kidding. He told me, ‘Tim, I’m telling you when you get in there it’s going to be easier than you think it is’. Looking back at the fight, it wasn’t like lopsided like I destroyed him but it was relatively easy. I was able to walk him down and he really couldn’t do too much to me. I was able to apply the pressure all night and he couldn’t adjust, and that made it easy for me because I didn’t have to adjust. I just kept doing the same thing, just walk to him, just walk to him. Every time I got close to him I just had to make sure that I was really close before I swing so I didn’t leave myself out there to get hit with a counter, because Alexander has great counters. He has fast hands. It was just very easy. It was a very easy night. I wish it would have gone the distance because I was starting to turn it up. After the ninth I started hitting him a little bit more flush. In the tenth I started turning it up a little bit more. In the eleventh I was going to turn it up even more, and in the twelfth I was going to close the show. So I wish it would have went on, but it didn’t. He took the coward’s way out by crying and making excuses just like everybody else does and that’s the bottom line on that.”
On whether he believes he sees any weaknesses in Amir Khan’s game that he can exploit:
“They know my game plan. Freddie Roach knows me. He’s seen me fight a lot. My game plan is to take it to him, period. He’s one-dimensional. I’m going to take it to him. That’s my game plan guys, taking it to him. I saw a little bit of weakness in the Maidana fight. I saw some things that I can execute that I feel he can’t get away from because he still makes the same mistakes all the time. I’m sure they see weaknesses in my abilities and my craft too, but the thing is Amir can’t adjust. He can’t adjust. He cannot adjust. I mean he couldn’t even stop Maidana’s uppercut and Maidana kept landing it all night long, and he couldn’t even stop the uppercut! I’m way quicker. Obviously I don’t hit harder, but I hit hard. If I don’t hit hard then we didn’t Devon just stay there and exchange with me? If I can’t punch, why didn’t Devon stay there and exchange with me? He wouldn’t exchange with me! He would hit, move, and then he would hold. That was his game plan! I was like is that all you got dude? I mean seriously? In the first round I knew his game plan. I was like oh, okay! He’s going to tie me up every time I get close, and then he’s going to run, he’s going to pitter-pat, and then he’s going to move. I think Amir is going to bring a lot to the table. Like I said, he’s trained by Freddie Roach and Freddie Roach is a good strategist. Freddie Roach comes with a game plan and if Amir Khan can execute it then there is a possibility he can beat me, but the thing is he’s going to have his hands full!”
His response to the following comments made by Freddie Roach on the prior week’s edition of the show: “I actually think they need to build that fight up a little bit. I think maybe they need more exposure so I don’t know why you would rush into that fight”:
“ Oh man! That’s hilarious man! Freddie Roach, I’m serious! If Freddie Roach is going to try and stop this fight from happening, I’m not sure if he can! I’m not sure if he can, man! I mean Amir has to fight me! He has to fight me. Yeah, let’s build this fight a little more but how much bigger is it going to get? I don’t think it’s going to get any bigger than this. Who else is he going to fight out there? Is he going to fight Erik Morales or somebody after Morales gets beat down by Maidana? I mean I don’t know. He has to fight me, man!”
On whether he believes the fight between him and Khan actually will happen in July:
“The fight has to happen, man. It has to happen but I’ve always had a little bit of doubts that the fight wouldn’t happen. You know I put out in the press that I was going to fly over to England and see him fight McCloskey. I really thought about it, but I thought if we put too much pressure on him that he’s going to run away. So I don’t know if I should go or not. I think that Freddie Roach thinks that Amir’s not ready. I think Freddie Roach thinks that Amir can beat me, but just not right now. He’s not willing to take that risk.”
“I think that’s going to be the next fight. They’re planning for July 23. We’re trying to get that fight made. You know Amir Khan has a fight in April. God willing he’ll get through that fight unscathed and we’ll be meeting July 23. I think it’s going to be a great showdown. I think Amir Khan brings a lot to the table and I’m ready to show you who the best junior middleweight in the world is.”
Whether he worries that Amir Khan could get injured or lose in his April fight against Paul McCloskey:
“Yeah. Anything can happen in boxing. It takes just one punch to win a fight and I’m just hoping everything lines up perfectly. I hope he doesn’t get injured and like you said nothing is for sure in boxing, but Amir Khan can’t run anywhere else, I mean he has to go through me if he wants to be considered the best fighter in the world at 140 pound. I think he has really no other option but to fight me. So I don’t think he’s going to run. I think he wants the fight. He said it out of his mouth that he wants to fight me and he’s willing to do that July 23. So hey, let’s do it then!”
On what it would mean to get the opportunity to face Khan in a unification fight:
“Yeah I believe it was after I fought against Lamont Peterson, we were trying to get in the ring with Amir Khan. That’s when he was with Frank Warren and then he transferred and went over to Golden Boy and Golden Boy just wasn’t interested at the time. So I mean finally now, it’s come to this point. I did everything that he pretty much asked me to do. I fought Devon Alexander, he fought against Marcos Maidana and he said the winner should face the winner. I won, he won, hey! Now let’s have a showdown!”
His views on fans who were critical of his unification fight against Devon Alexander:
“I can’t make Devon fight a fight. I came to fight. I can’t make Devon fight. I took it to him from the opening bell. Stylistically the fight wasn’t a good matchup. I look back at it. It is what it is. I got the victory. That’s all that matters to me anyway and I’m ready to show the fans what I really can do by beating Amir Khan. So they have a lot to look forward to. Amir Khan I think has the perfect style for my style. Amir Khan, like I said he brings a lot to the table. He’s very active. He’s trained by one of the best trainers in the world. He’s an Olympic Silver Medalist. I mean the guy brings a lot to the table and that’s a big challenge for me, and I’ll definitely be up for the challenge.”
On whether he feels he is not receiving due credit for beating the undefeated Alexander in a unification clash:
“At first I was but now I’m like whatever. There are always going to be doubters out there. Everybody is not going to like me and like my style, but for the boxing fans that do I really appreciate them. It’s time to move on. Devon Alexander was like a month or so ago. I’m over the fact. I got the win. I’m settling in and now I’m moving on to bigger and better things.”
On whether he believed his fight with Alexander would be more competitive going into it:
“You know what? I did. Honestly I felt like the fight was going to be tougher. My trainer going into the fight told me that it was going to be the easiest fight that I’ve ever had in my entire career, and I looked at him like he was kidding. He told me, ‘Tim, I’m telling you when you get in there it’s going to be easier than you think it is’. Looking back at the fight, it wasn’t like lopsided like I destroyed him but it was relatively easy. I was able to walk him down and he really couldn’t do too much to me. I was able to apply the pressure all night and he couldn’t adjust, and that made it easy for me because I didn’t have to adjust. I just kept doing the same thing, just walk to him, just walk to him. Every time I got close to him I just had to make sure that I was really close before I swing so I didn’t leave myself out there to get hit with a counter, because Alexander has great counters. He has fast hands. It was just very easy. It was a very easy night. I wish it would have gone the distance because I was starting to turn it up. After the ninth I started hitting him a little bit more flush. In the tenth I started turning it up a little bit more. In the eleventh I was going to turn it up even more, and in the twelfth I was going to close the show. So I wish it would have went on, but it didn’t. He took the coward’s way out by crying and making excuses just like everybody else does and that’s the bottom line on that.”
On whether he believes he sees any weaknesses in Amir Khan’s game that he can exploit:
“They know my game plan. Freddie Roach knows me. He’s seen me fight a lot. My game plan is to take it to him, period. He’s one-dimensional. I’m going to take it to him. That’s my game plan guys, taking it to him. I saw a little bit of weakness in the Maidana fight. I saw some things that I can execute that I feel he can’t get away from because he still makes the same mistakes all the time. I’m sure they see weaknesses in my abilities and my craft too, but the thing is Amir can’t adjust. He can’t adjust. He cannot adjust. I mean he couldn’t even stop Maidana’s uppercut and Maidana kept landing it all night long, and he couldn’t even stop the uppercut! I’m way quicker. Obviously I don’t hit harder, but I hit hard. If I don’t hit hard then we didn’t Devon just stay there and exchange with me? If I can’t punch, why didn’t Devon stay there and exchange with me? He wouldn’t exchange with me! He would hit, move, and then he would hold. That was his game plan! I was like is that all you got dude? I mean seriously? In the first round I knew his game plan. I was like oh, okay! He’s going to tie me up every time I get close, and then he’s going to run, he’s going to pitter-pat, and then he’s going to move. I think Amir is going to bring a lot to the table. Like I said, he’s trained by Freddie Roach and Freddie Roach is a good strategist. Freddie Roach comes with a game plan and if Amir Khan can execute it then there is a possibility he can beat me, but the thing is he’s going to have his hands full!”
His response to the following comments made by Freddie Roach on the prior week’s edition of the show: “I actually think they need to build that fight up a little bit. I think maybe they need more exposure so I don’t know why you would rush into that fight”:
“ Oh man! That’s hilarious man! Freddie Roach, I’m serious! If Freddie Roach is going to try and stop this fight from happening, I’m not sure if he can! I’m not sure if he can, man! I mean Amir has to fight me! He has to fight me. Yeah, let’s build this fight a little more but how much bigger is it going to get? I don’t think it’s going to get any bigger than this. Who else is he going to fight out there? Is he going to fight Erik Morales or somebody after Morales gets beat down by Maidana? I mean I don’t know. He has to fight me, man!”
On whether he believes the fight between him and Khan actually will happen in July:
“The fight has to happen, man. It has to happen but I’ve always had a little bit of doubts that the fight wouldn’t happen. You know I put out in the press that I was going to fly over to England and see him fight McCloskey. I really thought about it, but I thought if we put too much pressure on him that he’s going to run away. So I don’t know if I should go or not. I think that Freddie Roach thinks that Amir’s not ready. I think Freddie Roach thinks that Amir can beat me, but just not right now. He’s not willing to take that risk.”
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