Many boxers have learnt their biggest lessons taking the blows as sparring partner to a great name. Larry Holmes did many rounds in training with Muhammad Ali before going on to rule the heavyweight world, and, nearly a decade before he beat him in the ring, Jersey Joe Walcott was hired to provide target practice for Joe Louis. Amir Khan will look to rebuild his career taking punches from Manny Pacquiao, regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today.

Khan will head to Hollywood on October 14 to work with his new trainer, Freddie Roach, and he will spar with Pacquiao, who faces Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas on December 6. Roach's Wildcard gym is known as a hangout for film stars, who like to rub shoulders with champions while getting fit. Khan will have to get used to not being the centre of attention.

Until he was knocked out in 54 seconds by Breidis Prescott in Manchester last month, Khan had hoped to share a ring with Pacquiao, with the Filipino's WBC lightweight title on the line. Losing to Prescott changed all that. “I can walk where I want, do what I want,” Khan said. “No one there [in the United States] knows who Amir Khan is, I'm just another boxer. I want to be treated like any other fighter.”

A comeback bout for Khan is likely to be announced next week. It could be on December 6 or 13, in Britain or the US. Plan A, which was December 6 in Birmingham, would prevent Roach from being in Khan's corner because the trainer will be hoping to guide Pacquiao to victory against De La Hoya that night.

Khan, 21, might not be the star of the gym, but he will not be running to the US with his tail between his legs. Having disposed of the services of Jorge Rubio, his trainer for the Prescott bout, he flew out after that defeat to meet Roach, who has trained a string of top boxers, including Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Steve Collins.

“I went to do one session with him and ended up doing three,” Khan said. “I picked up so much in just three days. Most coaches tell you to do things in training, but they don't tell you why. Freddie explains everything and always made sure I knew why he was getting me to do things. Normally when guys would come to my gym, they would learn off me, but I was learning so much off them.”

A change of trainer is only one of the changes that Khan has looked to introduce since his dramatic defeat. Watching a tape of the bout proved painful, if brief, viewing. “I had to watch the fight, you have to see what you did wrong,” Khan said. “But from now I'm going to be having some tough sparring sessions. Freddie says he wants me to spar with Pacquiao. I'm going to experience being in an uncomfortable zone and will have to learn how to deal with it.

“Because I was beaten it makes me realise I have to change a lot, stop a lot of the things I was doing - the appearances, the dinner dos. I've got to focus on my job because the next few years will be crucial. I will have six weeks over there, just be totally chilled and get away from it all.”

Pacquiao, a four-weight world champion, is known to ignore luxuries. Before his bouts, he is rumoured to sleep on the floor of his hotel suite in Las Vegas and when training in Hollywood he avoids five-star hotels to stay in a small motel near the gym.

“That's a bit too rough for me,” Khan said. “I'm going to stay in an apartment, so I can have my nutritionist with me and cook for myself. Otherwise I'd just live off takeaways.”

Explore More Sport

• Athletics

• Boxing

• Cycling

• Sailing

• US Sport