Mayweather: Khan thinks he can fight Canelo like I did

By Boxing News - 02/09/2016 - Comments

mayweather42By Dan Ambrose: Superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. thinks Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) agreed to move up in weight to face the much heavier and stronger Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) because he believes he can do what he did in his fight against Canelo in 2013.

Mayweather out-boxed the larger Canelo by using his speed, quick jabs and movement to win a 12 round majority decision. Mayweather thinks that Khan is going to try and do the same thing that he did in out-boxing Canelo.

The Khan vs. Canelo fight will take place on HBO PPV at a catch-weight of 155lbs. Canelo’s WBC middleweight title belt will be on the line for the fight, which suits Khan just fine because he wants a chance to win the title.

“That’s the reason Amir Khan took the fight because he thinks he’s going to be able to do the same thing that I did,” Mayweather said about his thoughts on why Khan chose to face the dangerous Canelo. “It’s totally different. Canelo, he’s young and he’s very strong and he’s very, very big. But with me, I had so much experience at the top level, and it’s just that I’ve been in there with so many different styles, with so many different strong guys. I know how to make adjustments, and I know how to adapt to any style,” said Mayweather.

If you look at Mayweather’s fight against Canelo, he didn’t really do anything special in the fight. He just jabbed, landed pot shot right hands, and moved just enough to keep from getting cornered. Mayweather didn’t get greedy by looking to slug with Canelo, and he didn’t throw combinations. Mayweather stopped throwing combinations a long time ago.

It’s not outside the realm of possibility that Khan couldn’t duplicate the same plan that Mayweather used to beat Canelo. Mayweather didn’t really do anything special against Canelo other than jab, lean backwards to avoid counters, and move a little. It’s a game plan that Khan is capable of duplicating if he’s disciplined and doesn’t get sloppy in the ring by reverting back to his old style of fighting.

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Erislandy Lara almost because Canelo in 2014, when he used the Mayweather blueprint to pot shot and jab from the outside. Where Lara made a mistake is by moving too much, and not throwing enough jabs and pot shots. The fight was a winnable one for Lara if he stopped moving and thrown another dozen punches per round. Lara didn’t do a good enough job copying Mayweather’s style to get the victory.

The advantage that Khan has over Lara is he’s got a great trainer in Virgil Hunter, who will make sure that Khan doesn’t make the same mistakes that Lara did. If Khan can do a 40 percent better job against Canelo that Lara did, I think Khan easily wins the fight.

Khan has arguably better physical tools than Mayweather had in his fight against Canelo. Khan has the faster hands, better jab, superior punching power, and he’s a lot quicker on his feet than Mayweather was when he fought Canelo. In many ways, Khan is a better version of Mayweather physically. What Khan doesn’t have that Mayweather had in the Canelo fight was the ring IQ, and the discipline to not get greedy. Mayweather also might have had a better chin than Khan. But if Khan can fight smart and use the Mayweather blueprint on Canelo, I think it’s a very winnable fight for Khan.



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