BIGGEST WINNER
Canelo Alvarez: The ultimate objective of any boxer hoping to become a star is to get fans to scream, ?Wow!? Alvarez had the biggest ?wow? moment of his career on Saturday night in Las Vegas, knocking poor Amir Khan out cold with a colossal right in the sixth round in what could turn out to be the knockout of the year. That?s how you get people?s attention. Yes, most of us expected that result when the fight was announced. Canelo was too big and too strong for the chinny Khan, who had been on the wrong side of two brutal knockouts in the past. That didn?t matter when the punch landed. The pro-Canelo crowd at the new T-Mobile Arena erupted ? and you could almost hear fans watching on TV involuntarily yelling that, ?Wowwwwwww!? ? in a moment that only strengthened Canelo?s position as the biggest attraction in the sport. What about the first few rounds? I think Canelo was frustrated early in the fight, as Khan, the quicker and more athletic of the two, got in and out before Canelo could react, a problem he probably will always have against super quick, slick opponents. The prospect of an upset seemed realistic for a short time. That said, Canelo was able to adjust fairly quickly at T-Mobile, closing the distance between him and Khan by the fifth round. That set up the knockout punch, which preserved the Mexican?s RING and WBC middleweight titles. Overall, Canelo (47-1-1, 33 KOs) couldn?t have had a much better night than he did on Saturday. The only problem was that he didn?t have much time to bask in the glory before he was forced to look ahead to a much bigger challenge.
BIGGEST QUESTION
Will Canelo-GGG be next? That?s the fight everyone wants to see, Canelo vs. Gennady Golovkin. And they want to see it in September, when Canelo is scheduled to fight next, not God knows when in the future. I believe the most contentious issue will be weight. Many pundits and fans ? as well as Golovkin?s handlers ? believe the fight should take place at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds because it?s a middleweight title-unifcation fight. I hope it does. I hope Team Canelo says, ?Screw it. A fight at 160 will be more compelling ? and more marketable ? than one at 155 pounds. And, heck, a few pounds wouldn?t make that much difference anyway.? That isn?t likely to happen, though. Canelo is a much bigger star than Golovkin, which, like it or not, gives the Mexican the leverage in negotiations. And I believe his team will not give away what they think would be a size advantage to Golovkin. I hope Team Canelo won?t demand a catchweight of 155 pounds, the contracted weight for Canelo?s last four fights. I think that?s asking too much of Golovkin and will leave a bad taste in the big mouths of many fans. If a catchweight is inevitable, I would lean toward 157, which is equidistant between the junior middleweight and middleweight limits. Maybe that will get it done. I think both boxers need the fight, Canelo because his courage has been questioned and Golovkin because he desperately needs a defining fight. Fingers crossed.
BIGGEST LOSER
Amir Khan: Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) lost about as emphatically anyone can lose a fight but he won?t emerge from the setback as a badly diminished boxer, at least not in terms of how he?s perceived. Khan had for years been lobbying for a matchup against a superstar, first Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao and then Canelo. From a business standpoint, he couldn?t pass up a career-high payday ? which could reach eight figures in American dollars ? when Golden Boy Promotions came calling about a showdown with its star. Still, Khan has been applauded for taking on an extremely dangerous mission. Say whatever you want about him but you have to admit he has cojones. What now? Khan will take some time off and then go down to a more-natural 147 pounds, where he won?t be at such a size disadvantage no matter who he fights. I believe the Khan that gave Canelo all kinds of trouble before the big punch will do the same against virtually anyone at a lower weight even if his chin will always be questioned. And, fortunately for him, he has an obvious foil: fellow Briton Kell Brook, the IBF welterweight titleholder. I can see Khan and Brook fighting on the same card late this year or early next year and then, assuming things go well, facing one another in what would be a huge fight in the United Kingdom. The point here: Khan?s night was cut dramatically short by Canelo on Saturday but he has a lot more to give in his career.
RABBIT PUNCHES
I don?t get the Canelo-Khan scoring through five rounds: 48-47 (Glenn Feldman) and 49-46 (Glenn Trowbridge) for Alvarez; 48-47 (Adalaide Byrd) for Khan. I thought Khan obviously won at least three of those rounds, which is reflected in Byrd?s score. Trowbridge?s card is way off. No way Canelo won four of the five rounds. Of course, it doesn?t matter much in light of the knockout. At the same time, the cards of Trowbridge and Feldman don?t reflect well on them or the Nevada State Athletic Commission. ? David Lemieux (35-3, 32 KOs) bounced back from his knockout loss to Golovkin by stopping Glen Tapia (23-3, 15 KOs) in the fourth round on the Canelo-Khan card. A left hook, followed by a grazing right, put Tapia down for the first time in his career. I have no idea what lies ahead for Lemieux ? although he?s a potential foe for Canelo ? but he?s always fun to watch. ? Former middleweight title challenger Curtis Stevens (28-5, 21 KOs) never looked better than he did against previously unbeaten Patrick Teixeira (26-1, 22 KOs) on the Canelo-Khan card, stopping the Brazilian with a single right counter in the second round. Stevens hurt Teixeira with a jab in the first round, a bad sign for the loser. ? Two of Golden Boy?s young prospects ? welterweight Frankie Gomez and junior featherweight Diego De La Hoya ? looked sharp on the Canelo-Khan card. Gomez (21-0, 13 KOs) shut out capable, but aging veteran Mauricio Herrera (22-6, 7 KOs), a sign that Gomez might finally be realizing his potential. And De La Hoya (15-0, 9 KOs), the cousin of Oscar De La Hoya, manhandled Rocco Santamauro (13-1, 1 KOs) en route to a seventh-round knockout. ?
WBA lightweight titleholder Anthony Crolla (31-4-3, 13 KOs) has had an excellent past 10 months, drawing with Darleys Perez in July of last year in a fight most people believe he won, stopping Perez in five rounds in their rematch last November to win the WBA belt and knocking out Ismael Barroso (19-1-2, 18 KOs) with a body shot in the seventh round in his first defense Saturday in Manchester, England. Impressive run. ? Kubrat Pulev (23-1, 12 KOs) lost his momentum when Wladimir Klitschko stopped him in November 2014 but he has won three in a row since. He defeated Dereck Chisora (25-6, 17 KOs) by a split decision Saturday in Hamburg, Germany, although the scorecard of Beat Hausammann (115-113 for Chisora) was roundly criticized. Pulev remains in the thick of the interesting heavyweight mix. .. Pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue (10-0, 8 KOs) defeated David Carmona (20-3-5, 8 KOs) by a wide decision to retain his WBO junior bantamweight title Sunday in Tokyo. Carmona was the first to go the distance with Inoue since Ryoichi Taguchi in August 2013.
