As the tiffs with Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. attest, Alvarez has had problems with slickness and speed?
On Saturday, the wildly popular Guadalajara native Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 knockouts) will defend his WBC middleweight crown against Amir Khan (31-3, 19 knockouts) at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. If not the Kentucky Derby of boxing, this HBO pay-per-view fight is at least the Preakness.
This is a classic small man versus big man, boxer versus puncher contest. At 29, the 5?8?? Khan has never fought above 147 pounds. In contrast, Alvarez has been exchanging leather north of 150 pounds for years. Even though it is a title tussle, the combatants will be battling at a catchweight of 155 pounds, instead of the160-pound middleweight limit.
Size does not always matter in boxing. At 5?6? ? and a natural 140 pounds, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao was able to move up to 154 and destroy the hulking Antonio Margarito. But Pacquiao had flash dance foot speed and grenades for fists. Khan has a respectable right hand but he is not in the same universe of power as Pacquiao.
Still, there is one attribute that Khan shares with Pacquiao, namely, hypersonic hand speed. Khan?s former trainer, Freddie Roach, said, ?Amir is athletic, has good boxing skills, and he might be the one guy whose hands are as fast as Manny?s.? Roach, however, added that Khan did not compare with Manny in fleetness of foot.
In 2004, Khan won a silver medal for the UK at the tender age of 17. As a professional, he is a two-time world champion. Still, he has never been in a matchup of this magnitude. After arriving in Las Vegas, Khan told me, ?I see the massive posters on the side of the MGM Grand and all over town. This is exactly where I have always wanted to be?in a huge fight. I tell myself, if not now, then when? Honestly, it?s a dream come true. Right now, I am just trying to stay calm and focused.?
At his best, Khan strikes with lightening packages of destruction, and then uses his legs to wheel out of harm?s way. At his worst, he ignites a combination but then stays in the pocket too long and gets caught out of position.
On two occasions, against both Breidis Prescott and later Danny Garcia, Khan paid dearly for this tactical mistake, ending up on the receiving end of upending left hooks. As Khan is well aware, Alvarez?s compact and crushing hook is amongst the best in the bruising business.
Former undisputed middleweight champion, Bernard Hopkins, is convinced that Alvarez?s power and tight combinations will prevail. However, as the tiffs with Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. attest, Alvarez has had problems with slickness and speed.
Hopkins warns, ?If Canelo brings anything less than his ?A? game, he is going to be in trouble. Khan?s speed is going to take some getting used to. Canelo is going to have to adjust to it.?
The popular Brit with Pakistani roots is confident that his mobility, boxing skills and busy, rapid fire punching (averaging 55 punches per round) will see his arm raised at the final bell. Kahn insists, ?I am feeling sharper and stronger at the higher weight.? But Khan is not kidding himself. ?I know I am not as strong as Canelo. I know that one mistake with him could get me into trouble.? The mistake that Khan and his defensive wizard of a trainer, Virgil Hunter, want to avoid is going toe-to-toe with Alvarez. If Khan is to notch an upset, he will have to sting Alvarez and then move or hold. It won?t be easy.
Oscar De La Hoya is Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and Alvarez is the company?s main product.
De La Hoya said, ?A fighter usually hits his peak at 27. Canelo is only 25! He is just coming into his man strength. But he is not as focused on the knockout anymore, so his boxing is better. He is jabbing more, throwing more combinations and his footwork, and ability to cut off the ring are constantly improving.?
Pressed for one of Alvarez?s favorite combos, De La Hoya volunteered, ?Canelo likes to slip a punch and counter with a straight right, then right uppercut, and left hook??a very difficult sequence to master.
Hanging in the wings of this HBO pay-per-view fight is the ominous Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin (35-0, 32 knockouts). ?Triple G? boasts a streak of 22 knockout victories. He holds three middleweight title belts, and is universally considered the premier 160-pound fighter on the planet. Nevertheless, Alvarez is the ?lineal? middleweight king; that is, he is the man who beat the man, who beat the man, etc. who whupped the last undisputed champion. After his recent second round stoppage of Dominic Wade, a hungry Golovkin said that he doesn?t care who wins between Alvarez and Khan, ?I just want my belt!?
Unlike some of his elite boxing brethren, Alvarez, who turned professional at 15, has never been a risk averse boxer. He said, ?My whole thing is I want to be a legend. I want to be a legend, and I train hard so I can do legendary things in boxing?? Assuming Alvarez conquers ?King Khan,? legendary status will require a showdown with Golovkin.
The sooner the much better for boxing.
A professor of philosophy at St. Olaf College, Gordon Marino writes on boxing for the Wall Street Journal. He is on the board and works with boxers at the Circle of Discipline in Minneapolis, as well as at the Basement Gym in Northfield, MN. His The Quotable Kierkegaard was recently published by Princeton University Press. You can follow him on Twitter at @GordonMarino.
Special thanks to the Wall Street Journal.
