By Dan Ambrose: Chepo Reynoso, the trainer for WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, isn’t too worried about the muscles Amir “King” Khan is putting on in training camp as he gets ready for their May 7 fight next month on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Reynoso seriously doubts whether Khan’s new muscle growth will equate to him punching harder than he has in the past. Reynoso points out that bodybuilders have a similar look to Khan don’t have strength and power.
Khan says he’s going to be in the 160s for the fight against Canelo, and he feels his power is going to be enough to vie Canelo a lot of problems in this fight. Khan isn’t saying he’s going to score a knockout over Canelo, but he does feel his strength, hand and foot speed is going to give him a lot of problems. Canelo struggled against the only fast fighter he’s ever fought in Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their fight three years ago in 2013. Canelo hasn’t had to fight anyone with the kind of speed that Mayweather and Khan have going for him since then.
Canelo did fight Erislandy Lara in 2014, but he’s not a fighter with blazing fast hands. Lara is more of a pure boxer, who has decent hand speed than someone with incredible speed.
“Yes, he’s fast but Saul also is not a turtle,” said Canelo’s trainer Chepo Reynoso to Fighthype.com about Khan. “Saul is fast and we’re going to work so he can be even faster. Maybe many people don’t capture his speed, but his opponents have found out that inside the ring it’s difficult and he has fast hands. For us it’s not a surprise because we’ve always known him and known his capabilities of his speed.”
Canelo is fast of hand for a middleweight. What’s slow about Canelo is his feet. He moves like a turtle, and can be out-boxed by fighters that use movement, stiff jabs and hard pot shots. Khan is capable of doing all of those things against Canelo. As long as Khan’s chin holds out, he’s going to be a problem for Canelo. Reynoso needs to acknowledge the potential problems that Khan could give Canelo in this fight. If Reynoso going into that fight assuming that Canelo will steamroll over Khan, he could be in for a big disappointment.
In taking about Khan gaining muscle weight and looking bigger, Reynoso said “Just because he looks like that doesn’t mean it equals strength and power. There’s a lot of body builders who look like that and no. This is boxing and this is power, and that’s what going to count in the ring. I do not think he’s an inch taller than [Saul]. They look equal to me. Sometimes people are fooled by shows you have, but I don’t think he’s an inch taller than Sail. The truth is they are the same height. The reach seems to be a little longer for Amir, but that’s not a problem. Saul know how to work the midsection very good. The question of reach or height will not be a problem for Saul,” said Reynoso.
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