Virgil Hunter To Take On Role As Amir Khan's New Trainer

With Amir Khan having split from trainer Freddie Roach in a move announced last week, there was a fair amount of speculation over who would be tabbed as the next man to take Khan in. It now appears that Virgil Hunter, trainer of Andre Ward, is the choice to attempt to guide Khan back to a title.

The Khan/Roach split came in the wake of Khan's stunning loss to Danny Garcia in yet another example of Amir's somewhat lacking punch resistance. The "chinny" tag has followed Amir ever since getting blitzed by Breidis Prescott in 2008 and getting repeatedly rocked and then finished by Garcia isn't going to help that reputation at all.

Following the loss to Garcia, Khan said that he needed to find a trainer who could help him with his defense while working with his offensive strengths. At that point it seemed that he may have had his sights set on Emanuel Steward.

The choice of Hunter isn't a bad one by any means. And it comes right after seeing Andre Ward go from "skilled boxer" to "trained killer" against Chad Dawson. What boxer wouldn't look at that performance and the improvements Ward has consistently shown and think "that's my guy, right there?"

Of course, you also have to remember that Roach said that there was talk during the split that Amir's camp would have kept him with Freddie if he dumped Manny Pacquiao and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to make Amir priority number one. One of the most unrealistic requests in recent memory.

But if there is some sort of weird need to be #1 for his trainer, Hunter's main guy is and will remain Ward. So we'll have to see where this goes long-term.