20.06.08 – by James Slater: In an added twist to the upcoming fight between Amir Khan and Michael Gomez, hotshot Khan’s former trainer Oliver Harrison has been helping Gomez get ready for Saturday night’s fight, it has been revealed on The Sporting Life web site. Harrison and Khan parted company a short while back, under less than amicable terms, and this recent news has only served to alienate Khan further..
Now being trained by Dean Powell, the Olympic silver medallist has reportedly accused his former coach of “disloyalty.” With this news coming on the heels of Gomez’s no-show for the press conference to hype the Commonwealth lightweight title fight, Khan is a somewhat angry young man at present. Still, as professional as he is, the 21-year-old will not allow any of this to affect his performance at the weekend. The turn of events has certainly made the fight a touch more interesting, however.
Speaking on the news that his former trainer has been helping Gomez in the 30-year-old’s attempts to derail him, Khan had the following things to say.
“You definitely lose respect for a coach when that happens because it is only two months since he split with me,” Khan said. “Top coaches would never do a thing like that so it shows what kind of person he is. But to have someone like Oliver telling Gomez tips is fine. I didn’t learn anything from Oliver in the way of defence. There are things I’m working on with Dean now that I really should have done in my first five fights. At the end of the day, Oliver is a coach and he is allowed to coach anyone. But we will see how good a coach he is on Saturday night when Michael Gomez gets knocked out.”
It is unlikely Gomez, who Khan allegedly called “an idiot” after failing to show up at the pre-fight press conference, would benefit no matter who was training him for his shot at Khan. Quite simply too old, too ring-worn and too small, the undeniably tough Gomez will still be facing a much harder hitting and faster fighter when he gets in the with the unbeaten star. Indeed, in all likelihood, as soon as the fight is over with, the news of who trained Gomez will be completely forgotten. Let’s call it an interesting sidebar to the bout.
Khan certainly sees no need to worry now that his old trainer has been helping Gomez, and Amir has been dismissive of his challenger’s chances.
“It is laughable,” Khan declared. “Gomez can be as fit and prepared as he wants but with my power and speed and skills, he is not going to beat me. I am going to break him down big-time. I am in the best condition of my career.”
Prediction: Gomez goes inside four rounds!