By Brandon Bernica: In boxing, we laud fighters who dare to be great. We relish moments such as when Manny Pacquiao – a former flyweight champion – traded shot-for-shot with the gargantuan and formidable 154-pounder Antonio Margarito. Or who could forget when Oscar De La Hoya leapt to middleweight to challenge titleholder Bernard Hopkins. Though De La Hoya fell victim to a whipping body shot that left him writhing on the ground, the mere idea of confronting a man with such a physical advantage gave fans a newfound respect for the Mexican-American. Even the legendary Roberto Duran lost to Marvin Hagler for the middleweight title, and yet we still hold his career in the figurative rafters of boxing history.
Of course, if moving up in weight was the only prerequisite to boxing glory, we would be rendering boxing’s weight classes obsolete. Many fighters throughout history established their legacies by stepping up to face all comers – from young guns to slick veterans and everyone in-between. Gennady Golovkin – considered by many the best middleweight in the world today, has conquered a slew of talented contenders in his rise to boxing stardom. Sugar Ray Leonard established his credibility with fans because he faced the three best fighters of his era in Roberto Duran (twice), Tommy Hearns, and Marvin Hagler. When the narrative shifts from asking “who can he beat?” to “who can’t he beat?”, it’s a sign that the hard-to-please consensus of boxing fans is sliding in a fighter’s favor, usually after years and years of bloodstained toiling.
Saúl “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) and Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KO’s) will lock horns on May 7th from Las Vegas in what the metrics above would call a home-run of a bout. Yet the announcement of the fight has received backlash from some members of social media. Some chirp about Khan being too small for Canelo, while others automatically will criticize Canelo for any opponent not named Golovkin – though that fight was very unrealistic for this spring. Few even question whether Khan will stand and fight, or careen around the ring a safe distance from Canelo’s power.
Fight fans have a smorgasbord of palettes. Some crave the frequent leather-eviscerating-skin that is common in boxing’s all-out wars. Others enjoy the storylines that add flavor to the calloused figures of the sport. Even the “sweet science” of watching the Mayweather’s and Whitaker’s swim untouched in a sea of flailing arms attracts a few of boxing’s connoisseurs. Unequivocally, the best fights contain a combination of these tastes.
So, why are we dismissing Canelo vs Khan as a farce? Are we refining our “palettes” as fans until our expectations are unfathomable? Have we become too petty? Are we seeing the sport through too narrow a lens? Or are we too conditioned to the fight game’s morose state, where belts are an excuse for cashing-out, and business – not glory – is in the forefront of nearly every fighter’s mind? A climate like so breeds pessimism in its core fanbase, the same pessimism evident in the reaction against Canelo vs Khan being made.
Excuse my language, but maybe we need to snap out of it. Wake up to the truth that Canelo and Khan – in agreeing to touch gloves May 7th – are different. They don’t fall under the low standard the sport degrades itself to on a consistent basis. They resemble the pillars of gamesmanship boxing once proudly held itself accountable to.
Take Canelo’s career. Before decimating Austin Trout, fans and pundits alike crucified his resume for lacking real substance. Since then, he has battled with Trout, Mayweather, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto and James Kirkland – all worthy opposition – all while amassing a fanbase that rivals any other combatant in the sport. Running a gauntlet this difficult requires nerve, self-belief, and skills the likes very few fighters have ever possessed. Golovkin – a future superfight rival – and Leonard engendered fans through the same bravado.
Is Khan’s resume and ability really lacking when compared to these past foes? One would be hard-pressed to argue that.
Yes, Khan has his share of flaws. His dicey chin has led him to suffer devastating knockouts to Breidis Prescott and Danny Garcia. Outside the ring, he’s a polarizing personality, mixing self-inflated sensibility with borderline arrogance. Yet Khan hasn’t suffered defeat in five fights and holds victories over Marcos Maidana, Devon Alexander, Chris Algieri, and Luis Collazo, contenders with established resumes themselves. That’s not even counting the issue of Khan moving up two weight divisions and nine pounds to fight a naturally larger man. Some would call that career suicide, others a knockout waiting to happen. But as the past indicates, maybe we should be calling it noble. Maybe we should honor a stab at history, a stab that could end up inflicting Khan with some self-inflicted wounds if he’s not careful.
That’s not even mentioning the intrigue in how the styles of these two fighters mesh together. Alvarez punches with mortar in each hand, somehow throwing each punch with both composure and ferocity. And yet the cinnamon-haired Mexican isn’t reliant on one blow to catapult his foes into submission; rather, he follows up in combinations of three or four punches, often catching opponents with a slicing right hook or an uppercut launched with deadly leverage. Khan knows the right hook well; it was that punch that Danny Garcia sent his way that dissociated him from his senses. Canelo is sixteen pounds heavier than Garcia, so expect jabs to leave an imprint in Khan’s pain register. If Khan tries to answer back with shots of his own, he’ll meet some resistance. Canelo rolls with punches very well and exhibits improved reflexes that could give Khan fits.
But Khan maintains his own set of advantages over Alvarez. At the outset, the Pakistani’s blinding speed causes nightmares for anyone he shares the squared circle with. That speed is paired with power that Khan often isn’t attributed for – he’s knocked down Maidana and Collazo hard with clipping connects. Out-quickening his opponents means Khan opens up in flurries more often than other fighters, which makes for entertaining brawls with a willing dance partner – which Canelo appears to be. While Khan’s struggle for this bout is to put on enough weight without sacrificing too much speed, his height (5’8”) suggests he has plenty of capacity to muscle his way into middleweight shape. Add that trainer Virgil Hunter has prioritized the British national’s defense by employing more in-and-out rhythm to his style, and you have a legitimate debate as to who will be successful in the match-up. It all depends on which angle you fancy viewing the fight from.
If that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, consider the storylines that form the backdrop of this event. At stake is the storied middleweight title, and in an era where divisions are a dime-a-dozen, holding this classic belt may feel watered down. Yet when you realize the lineage of 160 pound titlists includes legends like Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins and Marvin Hagler, the context becomes a bit more significant. Khan’s arrival on HBO for the bout also holds pertinence in boxing’s current state of affairs. His advisor Al Haymon never greenlights his fighters to appear on channels he doesn’t manipulate, so a Khan victory could either shake up boxing’s rigid landscape or further solidify its boundaries. Another facet of this head-to-head brings nationalities into play. Mexico and Britain are home to two of boxing’s most hardcore fanbases, so pitting them against each other will add pride and bragging rights to the winner’s home country.
Boxing remains as much spectacle as sport. Our consciences as fans are corrupted – the more risk involved, the more sadistically satisfied we are. Canelo and Khan check nearly every box in our invisible fan-appreciation surveys. They wager their reputations and years of hard work for the chance at unanimous admiration. But boxing fans are fickle revisionists. As easily as we tear a match-up to shreds before it occurs, we just as easily nitpick its importance after the fact. No one gets credit when it’s due, and many receive it when it’s unwarranted. So my request is simple: let’s treat a solid match-up with dignity. Two fighters who fit the mold of champions past more than that of “champions” present, who battle the stale status-quo of boxing as much as they battle opponents in the ring, who possess attributes fit to ignite a brawl and courage to fan the flames, deserve our tilted heads and solemn praise. Let’s treat Canelo and Khan as such.
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