(LAS VEGAS) “BoOm!!!”
That was the prevailing thought stuck in the heads of 16,540 fight fans inside the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as they had just witnessed Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez retain his WBC middleweight championship via one-punch annihilation of Amir ‘King’ Khan in the sixth round. The end was as sudden as it was spectacular, as Canelo perfectly timed a lazy Khan left jab to come over the top with a maximum voltage right hand that electrocuted Khan instantly.
Reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s May 2009 one-punch destruction of Ricky Hatton (or the Lennox Lewis decapitation of Hasim Rahman), it was the kind of KO that will live in boxing lure forever, and will most likely qualify as the knockout of the year. You could almost see it coming on the horizon, as Khan – though boxing beautifully through the first four rounds – began to operate in predictable sequences. Canelo opened the fight by missing wildly with his left hook and had difficulty catching up with the speedy Brit, who was shooting occasional solid right hands on the chin of Canelo in between piercing left jabs.
But as the preternaturally gifted Canelo began really finding his range and his rhythm around the middle of the fourth round, Khan started running out of escape routes and gradually started taking more punishment to the head and body. In the fifth round, it became clear that Alvarez was close to landing a money punch, as he was nailing Khan with more accurate bombs just short of full impact. Having figured out his smaller (but very brave) foe, Canelo delivered the shot heard around the fight world in a declaration of greatness.
Full of emotion and adrenaline in the aftermath, a fed up Alvarez had just heard Khan trainer Virgil Hunter state that Canelo should assume the same risk that his fighter had just taken and challenged him to face the menacing Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin- a man nearly everyone feels is the true lineal middleweight champion since he operates at a full 160lbs.
“He needs to get in there with that man,” shouted Hunter during a post fight interview with HBO analyst Max Kellerman and pointing directly at GGG, who was standing on the ring apron. “Canelo is the WBC middleweight champion, and he needs to act like it. If he doesn’t, he’s not honoring the sport.”
A boiling Canelo then began motioning GGG into the ring – as if to fight him – and immediately made his intentions clear, with Golden Boy head honcho Oscar De La Hoya draped over his shoulder. “I’m tired of all of this talk of being afraid of you- I’ll fight you right now. Tonight,” said a defiant Alvarez. “Look in Mexico, we don’t f*** around, we don’t fear anyone.” This declaration of war was greeted with thunderous approval from his legion of Mexican faithful, as the champion boldly placed his belt around his waist and glared at Golovkin before leaving the ring.
Naturally, assembled media made their to GGG. who sneered and stated that Canelo ‘is being dramatic and I’m not impressed with him’. He said this before stating that he was ‘more impressed with Khan for being a man- not like this guy (Canelo)’. I was able to get to Golovkin trainer Abel Sanchez, never a stranger to speaking his mind, and he took things even further.
“Listen, this guy is full of adrenaline and something else that stinks,” dead-panned Sanchez. “He was talking the same way after narrowly beating Cotto. Now, he does this to a guy not nearly as good as Cotto and he wants to get tough. Ok. I’m telling you right now, watch his guy (Oscar) get him out of seeing us. He wants nothing to do with us, and we’ll see what happens in 15 days.”
What we do know, is that this is something that happened in Vegas- but won’t stay in Vegas. Rather, its likely to work its way to Los Angeles today, as Oscar began the post fight press conference by asking where Golovkin and Sanchez were. During press conference, De La Hoya got as animated as he could get with the media and this writer, as I challenged him on the merits of a fall superfight with Golovkin- or whether or not this was mere gamesmanship and posturing on his part, while veiling intentions of a fall showdown with Manny Pacquiao.
“Oh, so we’re not supposed to negotiate and entertain other possibilities?” said De La Hoya, flailing his arms and all but admitting Pacquiao was a consideration. “We’re going to open discussion on Sunday and do what we need to do to give fans what they want, and that’s a fight with Gennady Golovkin.”
Stay tuned.
