Pacquiao trainer Roach to turn his attention to Khan for Dec. 11 fight

ARLINGTON, Texas — Now it’s Amir Khan’s turn.

The reigning WBA junior welterweight champion has been playing second fiddle to Manny Pacquiao while his trainer, Freddie Roach, prepared Pacquiao to face Antonio Margarito at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Saturday.

But with Pacquiao’s work done, Roach can give Khan his undivided attention as Khan prepares for his Dec. 11 title defense against Marcos Maidana at Mandalay Bay.

“Amir has had to take a little bit of a back seat, but no complaints, no crying,” Roach said. “He’s going with the flow. We’ve already put our game plan in place for Maidana. … If we can keep him out of the pocket and not let him get close and use his right hand, we should be fine.”

Roach brought Khan with him to the Philippines to work with Pacquiao, then to his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., and then to Texas. Khan (23-1, 17 knockouts) has sparred dozens of rounds with Pacquiao, and he should be sharp as he enters the second phase of his preparation for Maidana (29-1, 27 KOs).

“Of all my fighters, Amir’s the best student, and that includes Pacquiao,” Roach said. “He always listens, and he stays with the game plan better than anyone.”

■ JFK MEMORIES — With the anniversary of the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President Kennedy looming and the Pacquiao-Margarito fight near Dallas, it brings back memories for Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.

Arum, 79, was working for the Justice Department in the U.S. Attorney’s office the day Kennedy was killed. But he has visited Dealey Plaza, where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot Kennedy from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, and he said he doesn’t get any strange vibes.

Arum said his trip last month to Cuba stirred his emotions about JFK much more.

“It wasn’t an emotional experience,” Arum said of his visit to the grassy knoll, which he first experienced in 1985 when he was promoting a fight at Southern Methodist University. “I was much more emotional when I went to Cuba, because I’ve always thought that Oswald was a functionary of the Cuban government and that (Fidel) Castro had put a hit on Kennedy after the CIA tried to take Castro out.”

■ MAGDALENO’S NEXT FIGHT — Top Rank isn’t wasting any time getting Las Vegas featherweight Jesse Magdaleno back in the ring after his sensational debut Nov. 6. Magdaleno tentatively is scheduled to be on the undercard of the Dec. 4 Top Rank show in Anaheim, Calif., that will have middleweights Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Alfonso Gomez squaring off in the 12-round main event.

Magdaleno scored a first-round technical knockout over Matthew Salazar on Nov. 6 at the MGM Grand Garden. His opponent for Dec. 4 has yet to be determined.

■ GREEN PROTEST — Allan Green’s camp is awaiting the results of a protest it filed Monday with the Nevada Athletic Commission in the wake of Green’s knockout loss to Glen Johnson in the eighth round of their super middleweight fight Nov. 6 at the MGM Grand Garden.

Green’s manager, Greg Leon, filed the protest, claiming Johnson hit Green with a deliberate blow to the back of the head from which Green never recovered.

NAC executive director Keith Kizer said he had forwarded the complaint to the state attorney general’s office, which handles all protests, and expects to get a ruling this week.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.