By Yannis Mihanos: When Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) signed for the fight against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 21 KOs) for May 7 on HBO PPV, many heads turned, as it was a surprise move that very few expected. We are now only a few days away from this very important fight at the new 20,000 seat T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both fighters have completed their preparation and are in peak condition.
By Yannis Mihanos: Last Saturday night IBF/IBO/WA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) made easy work of little known Dominic Wade (19-1, 12 KOs) in stopping him in the 2nd at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Golovkin’s performance last weekend performance proved for one more time that he is one gear ahead of his competitors in the middleweight division.
Golovkin now stays there like a lone wolf waiting to devour his next opponent.
By Yannis Mihanos: As the fight is getting closer it appears that Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) is trying hard to close the gap in size and weight for his May 7 fight against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In fact, on the most recent weigh in, the difference between Khan and Canelo appears to be just a few pounds (163.8 vs. 161.2).
By Yannis Mihanos: Finishing on top is an admirable way to retire. Former eight-time world champion Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) wanted to end boxing on a high note looking as good and as sharp as he could get last Saturday night in his final fight of his career against Tim Bradley (33-2-1, 13 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao did that very well.
Bradley tried his best, following for most of the time the good insights by coach Teddy Atlas. In fact, this was by far his best performance in the Pacquiao-Bradley three-fight series. The problem was that for Pacquiao too was the best performance in the series and in years.
By Yannis Mihanos: They say doing the same thing and expecting different results is an insane thing. Former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) fighting again for the third time Tim Bradley (33-1-1 13 KOs) seems insane too. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Bradley, made this fight happened. Will it serve his marketing purposes? Will it be a box office hit?
By Yannis Mihanos: It’s been some months since his official announcement to retirement but Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KOs) remains in the spotlight of boxing. The majority of the world would love to see him come back and take a fight against someone like IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs).
The public wants Mayweather to comeback not necessarily for winning, quite the contrary, I would say many just want to see him losing. Of course, that doesn’t concern Floyd, not at all.
By Yannis Mihanos: Special plans can make a difference in a fight and even turn somebody into legend. Nevertheless, in life, there are always two sides of the coin and boxing could not be an exception. Things can happen in reverse too. Prior to the rematch against Sergey Kovalev, former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal made claims that he and his coach Freddie Roach were preparing something special, something that their opponent didn’t expect.
Some serious expectation was built prior to the fight but in the end all it took was a few seconds for Pascal to realize that it ain’t gonna happen. Not now, not in this lifetime. All it took was one punch in the face to realize that no special plan can work against this kind of power and opponent.
By Yannis Mihanos: For such a plan, you need a beautiful mind: One that sees through walls, one that can foresee bad situations before from ever happening. Whoever has it, is more likely to win but it is not absolute. There are things first that must be taken care off.
In the wake of the upcoming fight of Amir Khan vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on May 7 on HBO PPV, I took the time and recollected how many times I have heard the following phrase: “I know how to beat him, I have a special plan.” I bet you have heard this too, millions or even thousands of times.
By Yannis Mihanos: Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) for the last few years has been searching for the golden ticket in looking to get fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, but neither of those fights happened. The time spent trying to get those big fights has cost Khan dearly with him missing out on important fights such as rematches against Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson, as well as a big fight against Kell Brook.
All these would have been fights crucial for his career and credibility. And here we are today after the shocking news of Khan’s agreement to fight WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Canelo-Khan fight will be taking place on HBO.
By Yannis Mihanos: In the early morning today, I watched yesterday’s weigh -n highlights for tonight’s important fight between IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) and Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 KOs) on HBO Championship Boxing at the Bell Centre in Montreal of Canada.
As of now the favorite to win is clearly the 32-year-old Kovalev.