Canelo vs. Khan

By Chris Williams: It looks like last Saturday night’s fight between WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) and welterweight Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) failed to bring in the monstrous numbers on HBO pay-per-view that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya had been predicting. I could have predicted that the Canelo vs. Khan fight would do poor numbers because fans don’t want to see champions handpicking opponents from two divisions below their weight class. Canelo-Khan was just another version of Danny Garcia vs. little Rod Salka.

De La Hoya had been talking about the Canelo-Khan fight bringing in 2 million buys in a fight that would cement the Canelo’s status as the No.1 fighter in boxing. Unfortunately, reality has spoiled De La Hoya’s dreams, as Lance pugmire is reporting the Canelo vs. Khan fight did less than 600,000 pay-per-view buys on HBO.

By Alan Garcia: On May the seventh HBO blatantly displayed assault and battery on national television. When did a live massacre turn into entertainment? Has society still not evolved since the time of the gladiators? Clearly not when they still allow for such brutality to be displayed on a pay-per-view event. I didn’t pay to see a morbid event like most casual viewers that consider this “entertainment,” I paid to see Amir “KING” Khan. A man with balls of steel like his, going into the pits of hell and against all odds, against oblivion, deserves my support and respect.

Life is already tough as it is with full of ups and downs. My love for boxing is ironically a symbol of my compassion for humanity and for the sacrifices of these men that go unnoticed. The sport of boxing is a good if not the best physical example to a metaphor of life.

By Patrick McHugh: For boxing fans wanting to see a replay of the Amir Khan vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez clash from last Saturday on HBO PPV, it can be seen this Saturday night on May 14 on HBO Sports World Championship Boxing. The Canelo-Khan start time will be at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The fight was a good one for Canelo because his start power increased with his highlight reel knockout over the 29-year-old Khan. Canelo felt good enough about his victory after the fight that he invited IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin into the ring and agreed to fight him at 160lbs instead of asking for a catch-weight of 155lbs.

By Gerardo Granados: Last Saturday night as the reader must already know, a knockout of the year nominee took place, when the underdog Amir Khan tried to achieve greatness challenging the reigning undisputed WBC 155 pounds belt holder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and getting knocked out by him in the 6th round at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was no surprise to see how the much bigger and stronger Canelo Alvarez was able to knockout for the full count the brave welterweight challenger Amir Khan, but indeed, it was a scary knockout and we all saw how everyone reacted when Khan fall unconscious to the canvas.

By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan says his punches had zero effect on the much heavier WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last Saturday night in their clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Khan says one of the reasons why he feels his punches did nothing to Canelo was because of the weight advantage the 25-year-old middleweight had over him.

Khan says he came into the ring around 161lbs for the fight, but he believes that Canelo weight 180lbs on the night. In looking at the two fighters, it’s hard to disagree with Khan. Canelo looked considerably bigger in that fight.

The punches that Canelo was barely missing Khan with in the first five rounds would have knocked out any welterweight in the world if he had landed those shots. Canelo was a little hulk in the ring with red hair instead of green. It was only a matter of time before he connected with one of his big shots to knock Khan out.

By Hector Gonzalez: Amir Khan was knocked out cold last night by Canelo in round 6. The pundits, fans, etc. want to make it about Khan’s chin, yes, Amir Khan has a weak chin, but this this is the sweet science. Hit and don’t get hit, this is not about chin; this is about lack of defense.

Amir Khan looked good for the first couple of rounds. For anyone who knows his style, it’s typical for him. He looked good for the first couple of rounds against Garcia as well; he also looked good against Lamont Peterson for the first couple of rounds. It’s simple to decipher. Amir Khan is an Olympic champion, he fights in the Olympic style of fighting, in other words, he is trained to fight for 3 rounds on the basis of winning on points. His style reflects that.

By Rishad Marquardt: In the build up to the Khan-Canelo fight, many former and present boxers were eager to be clear about one thing when asked their opinion; just how brave they believed Amir Khan was being by taking on the Mexican superstar, Canelo Alvarez, in the biggest fight of the year.

Moving up in weight in boxing is a demanding and daunting challenge for any boxer. Everyone has a ‘natural weight’ and straying away from ones natural division can cause a tremendous amount of tension and stress on the body. This can be even more significant when facing an opponent fighting in their optimum weight class, not to mention the (albeit overestimated) but famed punching prowess possessed by Canelo.

In hindsight, Canelo’s brutal strength had laid down a condition for the already famously glass-chinned Khan – that should he at any point in the fight get hit by even a moderately powerful punch, Khan would collapse to the canvas and would not have enough in him to beat gravity and thus beat the count.

By Dan Ambrose: Teddy Atlas of ESPN wasn’t happy to learn last night that WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards heading into the 6th round in his fight against Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the eyes of many boxing fans, Khan appeared to be well ahead of Canelo going into the sixth. Many fans had Khan leading four rounds to one at the time that Canelo scored a knockout in the 6th round. However, two of the judges had Canelo ahead.

By Jeff Aranow: Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) took a risk in fighting the much larger middleweight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) last night and the risk failed to pan out for the 29-year-old British fighter.

Khan was knocked out in the 6th round after he threw a lazy left hand that Canelo took advantage of by coming back with a right hand. That knockout was one of the worst of Khan’s pro career, as he was down on his back and looking hurt.