Thurman: Canelo is not a difficult fight for Khan

By Boxing News - 02/12/2016 - Comments

thurman5By Scott Gilfoid: WBA “regular” welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) thinks that Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) took the easier option in facing WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) for his next fight on May 7 rather than agreeing to fight IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook 35-0, 24 KOs) for his title in the summer.

Thurman notes that Canelo has slow hands and feet, and he sees him as an easier option for Khan than Brook, who has a good jab and nice right hand. Thurman thinks Brook moves better than Canelo.

I’m not sure that I agree with Thurman that Khan has taken the easier fight in facing Canelo. I happened to see Brook’s fight against Shawn Porter in 2014, I was totally unimpressed with Brook, especially with the way he held 10 times per round and got away with it due to the referee not stepping in to take points off.

Yeah, Brook is a good clincher, but I don’t rate him as being in the same class as Canelo. Sorry, Thurman, but I think you need to sit down, have a cup of coffee and re-watch Brook’s fight with Porter and then look at some of Canelo’s fights. There’s a world of difference between Brook and Canelo.

“Style-wise, Canelo is not a hard fight for Khan. [Canelo is] flat-footed, he tends to be slow-handed,” Thurman told Michelle Joy Phelps’ Behind The Gloves. “Kell Brook has a very accurate jab, an accurate straight right hand, he’s 147lbs, he moves faster with his hands and his feet, and has a similar defensive style. They both stand up straight with their hands vertically.

Thurman is just babbling and not making any sense at all to me. I get the impression that he’s not happy that Khan is getting a big money fight against Canelo, whereas he’s stuck fighting a difficult guy in Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs), who might beat him in their fight next month on March 12 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut.

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I can see Porter winning that fight. Thurman runs a lot, and he’s horrible to watch sometimes. I can see Thurman losing the fight if he can’t run for 12 rounds. I think Thurman has a chin problem. He’s been shaken up a number of times by Diego Chaves, Jesus Soto Karass and almost dropped by his last opponent Luis Collazo.

“Style-wise, Brook is more challenging due to his athleticism, due to the output he is able to produce in a fight,” Thurman said. “Canelo fights at a much slower pace but does have heavy hands which is quite threatening for a fighter like Khan.”

I think Canelo would destroy Thurman and Brook on the same night. Those are not competitive fights in my view. I mean, I also see Canelo destroying Khan as well. But with the way that Thurman is talking, I get the impression that he thinks he might be able to beat Canelo. I really wish Thurman would move up in weight and face Canelo – and Gennady Golovkin – but because we could see if he’s as good as he thinks he is. I don’t see that happening in a million years, especially with the way that Thurman gets shaken up when he takes hard head shots.



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