The Defense Doesn't Rest

“Training a fighter, defense is the first, second and third issue. However, there comes a time when a trainer simply cannot resist the very nature of the fighter he is training. Some guys are simply born a certain style, with a certain attitude, and you better take that nature and mold it – do the best of it, like a swordsmith working with different kinds of raw material. Pacquiao, for sure, was and will always be too offensive, too energetic, to really have the patience to learn the defensive craft. I would even say it would be contra-productive to have tried to do it. A unique offensive-machine like that, should focus only on refining the obviously effective parts of his attack. Khan is a different story. Neither his offense or his skills as a outside-fighter are quite enough to neglect the inside/defensive tools – however, he may already have passed the critical point of age in his career where he really can pick this up. The golden age of usurping skills is short – which is why the Cuban amateur system focus so hard on boxers between 7-12. After that, from the late teens and on, it's just about sharpening the existing tools.” —Our man Grimm posts some wisdom on the Roach/inside game article by Wylie