By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) firmly believes that he’ll be unseating WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) on May 7 in their fight on HBO PPV.
Khan’s belief that he’ll be the new WBC middleweight champion is so strong that he’s now talking as if it’s already a proven fact rather than just a pipe dream on his part. That sad thing about Khan’s thoughts of being the new WBC champion is he’s probably going to wind up getting his hopes smashed apart by a right hand from the 25-year-old Canelo, and then wind up having to go back to another long four-year rebuilding phase in his career.
Khan is only now getting back to fighting world class talents after his loss to Danny Garcia four years ago in 2012. That loss put Khan’s career in a stall, and he’s now getting out of it. I don’t know why it took Khan four years to recover from his last loss, but he can’t afford to do that again if things don’t work out for him against Canelo. Khan is 29 now, and he needs to be able to bounce back quickly after defeats rather mess around for years and years fighting fringe contenders like we saw him do.
“It’s going to be amazing to be called the middleweight world champion and that’s like a dream come true,” Khan said to skysports.com. “Even though I achieved a lot in my amateur days and also as a professional, I still think winning this fight against such a big name in Canelo, and becoming the middleweight champion, will be bigger than anything I’ve done,” said Khan.
#CaneloKhan pic.twitter.com/4Nd2nhISw9
— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) March 15, 2016
I wonder what Canelo has to say about Khan counting him as a scalp collected already. If anything, I think it’s going to motivate Canelo even more to plant Khan on the canvas for the 10 count on 5/7. The way I see the fight, Khan doesn’t have the needed power to keep a burly fighter like Canelo off of him.
Canelo is used to being hit by much heavier and stronger fighters than Khan. Without the punching power, Khan is not going to be able to slow Canelo down at all on May 7. Khan will be little more than a tiny speed bump for Canelo to go over on his path to knocking him clean out in this fight.
“I know it can happen, because we’ve seen it happen in the past, when Sugar Ray Leonard took on Marvin Hagler,” said Khan. “He was in a very similar position to me, where people were saying he was going to get beaten up, get knocked out and get hurt. He was going up two weight divisions and he went in there and beat Marvin Hagler. Sugar Ray Leonard was a great, great fighter but I really believe this is going to take me up to another level.”
I like how Khan compares himself to Sugar Ray Leonard. Oh boy, talk about your deluded fighters. The big difference is Leonard was always a world champion, and he had much more talent going for him when he faced Hagler.
I still think Hagler won that fight. Leonard didn’t do enough to get the decision in my opinion, but it was a good fight by Leonard. But for Khan to see himself in the same position as Leonard, I think that’s dream stuff. He’s not at the level of Leonard, because this guy was dominating the 147lb division at the time he stepped away from the sport for a spell.
When Leonard came back, he was still incredibly talented and had enough in the tank to give Hagler a tough fight. Leonard had a very good chin, and that’s another thing that Khan can’t compare with. Leonard was willing to stand in the pocket against Hagler during stretches of the fight. I can’t see Khan doing that at all against Canelo, because he’ll get chopped down.
Hagler was a true middleweight, and nothing like Canelo, who is someone who rehydrates a great deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Canelo is a heavier fighter than Hagler was. Leonard didn’t have to worry about fighting a 175 to 185lb Hagler. Khan is going to be facing a light heavyweight-sized Canelo on May 7, and I don’t think he’s going to be able to handle his weight advantage.
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