By Patrick McHugh: At today’s final press conference, challenger Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) reminded the boxing fans that he’s coming to beat WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) in this Saturday’s fight on HBO pay-per-view, take his WBC title and then bring it back with him to the UK to show it off.
Khan says he’s not worried about being outweighed by 10 to 12 pounds by Canelo in this fight, because he feels his superior hand speed will take away Canelo’s power by not giving him the ability to land his shots.
Khan’s fast foot speed will also figure into to the contest, because it’ll keep Canelo from having a stationary target for him to plant his feet and throw his big bombs.
“Canelo’s a tough guy. He’s strong, but we’re going to be ready for whatever he brings to the table,” said Khan as quoted by Fight News. “That’s the reason I chose this fight, because I really do believe I can win this fight. He’s a great champion, he’s a credit to boxing, but this is my time and I’m going to grab it with both hands. It’s been my dream to host a big fight like this in Vegas and I’m not going to let it go,” said Khan.
Canelo will be coming at Khan in straight lines looking to land his power shots to the head and body. Khan will be surely be using a lot of lateral movement to keep Canelo from being able to get his punches off with maximum power.
Khan chose this fight because Canelo is the biggest name in boxing right now after Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. both retired from the sport. There’s no one above Canelo, so this is the pinnacle for Khan. Canelo might not be the most talented of the fighters in the sport, but he is the most popular and will likely continue to be the most popular even if he loses the fight to Khan.
Canelo seemed to get even more popular after his defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. That tells you that it doesn’t matter if Canelo absorbs a loss. His fans will still support him.
In Khan’s case, he must win for him to increase his fan base and to keep his existing fans. When he lost to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia four years ago, Khan lost a great deal of his fans and it took him all this time to get back to where he was before those two defeats.
“Come Saturday night, I’m going to go in and win the world title,” said Khan to HBO. “I have good footwork, and good hand speed. I think my hand speed will take away a lot of his [Canelo] power. This fight will take me on to a different level in boxing. If I win this fight, that’s all that matters in my mind. To win this fight in style and also to put on the best performance of my life,” said Khan.
A victory for Khan will get him big paydays against Canelo, Gennady Golovkin, Danny Garcia and Kell Brook. If Khan wins all of those fights, he’ll become the new Mayweather in the sport and will see himself getting paydays that he’s only dreamed of. Khan is the underdog for Canelo fight. The fight will be televised on HBO PPV from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For Khan to get to the other important fights, he’ll need to beat Canelo twice, and that’s going to be difficult unless he fights the perfect fight. Khan’s trainer Virgil Hunter says he’s come up with a good game plan that he feels will lead to success fur Khan if he follows it to the letter. Khan won’t be veering away from the game plan because he knows full well that when he’s tried to mix it up with his opponents in the past, he’s been beaten.
“There’s not too much more to say. The fight’s near,” said Canelo. “I’m very happy with the work that I’ve done. I know what Amir Khan brings. He’s a very fast, very elusive, very tricky fighter. But I’m confident in the work that’s been done to be able to go in there and break this down…I’m honored to be opening T-Mobile (Arena), and I’m just anxious for Saturday so that we can all yell from the top of our lungs “VIVA MEXICO!”