Boxing: Canelo Alvarez vs Amir Khan Preview

This Saturday, HBO will be live from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as boxing returns to PPV for the 2^nd time in 4 weeks when Golden Boy Promotions will be presenting what could the highest selling boxing PPV this year. In a fight that will take place at a catchweight of 155 pound weight limit, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be stepping in to the ring to defend his WBC World Middleweight title against Amir “King” Khan, who will be entering the ring for the 1^st time in a year.

With Manny Pacquiao semi-retired, Canelo Alvarez is arguably the biggest PPV name in the sport of boxing currently. After coming off a PPV with Miguel Cotto that did approximately 900k PPV buys, a previous PPV of 350k with Alfredo Angulo, and being part of the 2^nd highest PPV in boxing history against Floyd Mayweather, Alvarez is known as the new golden ticket of boxing. The newest benefactor of that golden ticket for this Saturday will be Amir Khan.

Amir Khan has been trying to get that big PPV fight for a while now. Whether it was numerous attempts to get Floyd Mayweather, or even attempts to get Manny Pacquiao, it seems that Khan has finally gotten his wish, albeit at a weight that is 8 pounds heavier than his current division and 15 pounds heavier than the junior welterweight that he fought in for most of his career. In a fight where it has been rumored that after UK PPV money Khan can reach around 10 mil, Khan finally gets his payday that not only hits the UK, but also the US big stage.

The 25 year old redhead from Mexico will be stepping into the ring with a record of 46-1-1 (32 stoppages) with his only loss coming to the previously mentioned Floyd Mayweather. The talk about Canelo is always age vs experience. The pro-Canelo people say he’s only 25, the con-Canelo guys say he’s been fighting 11 years and has almost 50 pro fights. No matter which way you look at it, Canelo still has an impressive resume that includes a loss to Mayweather, and wins against Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez, James Kirkland, Alfredo Angulo, and most recently Miguel Cotto last November.

Amir Khan (31-3 with 19 KOs) is turning 30 years old this year and the UK born fighter is finally getting what, in reality if you think about it, he deserves. If you don’t count the “retired” Mayweather and Pacquiao, Khan probably has a top 5, and at worst a top 10, resume in the sport. Even with his 2 losses to Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson (controversial decision), Khan still has wins against Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana, Zab Judah, Devon Alexander, and his most recent win against Chris Algieri last May.

Canelo is a hard puncher that comes forward. He has trouble cutting off the ring because his feet just don’t move fast. If he gets you trapped, he can finish anyone, but Canelo seems to walk a straight line in the ring and very few people that do think Khan has a chance, say it because they consider him the superior technical boxer and a guy that can dance around the entire fight. However, even they know Khan is known for a weak chin and if he gets cornered, it could be the end.

As much as people want to say Khan’s speed may give Canelo trouble, even when he was at his normal weight, people still caught him. Danny Garcia, Chris Algieri, Lamont Peterson, they all caught him, and now that he is 8-15 pounds heavier than normal, in my opinion, he won’t be as fast. The 1^st time he gets hit good will likely be the last round of the fight. Because of this, most people, including me, are picking Canelo by stoppage, but most give him 6-8 rounds, I’m picking Canelo to stop Khan in 5 or less rounds.

 

This fight has a chance to end early. With this being Khan’s 1^st fight in a year, no one really has a good grip on what kind of shape he will be in. Early pictures of him don’t look great, but you can never truly tell till the fighter gets in the ring. Despite what could be a fast Main event, this card still has lots of solid fights that include David Lemieux vs. Glen Tapia, in which no one can see that going the distance, and 2 more solid fights of Mauricio Herrera vs. Frankie Gomez and Patrick Teixeira vs. Curtis Stevens. So overall, with this solid card, hopefully this event does around 500-600k PPV buys. Enjoy the fights.