By Jim Dower: After struggling through the first four rounds, WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1, 33 KOs) knocked out welterweight Amir “King” Khan (31-4, 19 Kos) with a big right hand to the head on Saturday night to get the stoppage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The right hand that the 25-year-old Canelo knocked Khan flat on his back. He was too hurt to get back up and the referee had to halt the fight right away.
Canelo had problems landing anything in the fight. He was missing almost everything he threw. It was fortunate for him that Khan’s punch resistance was poor, because things were starting to look like Khan had a chance to win the fight on points.
Khan, 29, fought well through the first four rounds. He fought well enough to have won the first four rounds. Canelo came back in the 5th and was able to land a couple of good shots to win the round. Khan looked tired by the 6th round, however. He had stopped throwing shots and he was mostly just moving around and not looking as energetic as he had in the first four rounds. It could be that the weight gain and the long period out of the ring negatively effected the 29-year-old Khan. Before this fight, Khan hadn’t fought since last year in May, when he struggled to defeat a bulked up Chris Algieri. It was the same situation. Khan started out well in the first four rounds against Algieri, and then tired out and struggled from the 5th round on.
Tonight’s Attendance at T-Mobile Arena: 16,540.
“I didn’t make it to the end, but I tried my best,” said Amir “King” Khan. “I want to be the best, and I want to fight the best. That is why I took this fight.”