NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Fight trainer extraordinaire  Freddie Roach, who helped Manny Pacquiao scale the heights to  become hailed as boxing’s best, said he gets a sense of deja vu  working with Briton Amir Khan.

“They’re very, very close,” Roach told Reuters after  Wednesday’s news conference at Madison Square Garden promoting  the Khan-Paulie Malignaggi title fight. “Manny came to me at 21  years old and eight years later he’s the pound-for-pound king.

“Amir was 21 years old when he came to me — a lot of  speed, a lot of potential, good work ethic. They train hard  together.

“I see a lot of Manny in him. They’re very similar in a lot  of aspects.” Asked about the great intangible, heart, Roach said: “One  hundred percent, yes.”

Khan is taking a big step toward international recognition  on Saturday by defending his WBA super-lightweight title  against New Yorker Malignaggi on his home turf at the Garden.

The bout will be the 23-year-old Khan’s first outside of  Britain.

Roach said he respected the quick-footed, light-hitting  former champion Malignaggi but was confident about the result.

The 29-year-old Malignaggi has a 27-3 record but only five  knockouts.

“We’re going to go out aggressive and make the fight  happen. We’ve got a good game plan, I think,” Roach said.

“I like Paulie and Paulie has a chance.

“The biggest thing is cut the ring off and not let Paulie  move on him, because Paulie can move and run when he wants to.  And that’s what he’s going to do in this fight, because my guy  is too big and strong for him and we got to cut the ring off  and set traps.

“That’s the most important thing, controlling the ring.”

Khan, who has finished off 16 opponents inside the distance  in compiling a 22-1 record, stopped Dmitriy Salita in the first  round of his last bout.

“Amir is very aggressive, very strong and he’s punching  better than ever,” said Roach. “I don’t think the fight will go  three rounds.”