WBC Middleweight Champ Canelo Alvarez Flattens Challenger Amir Khan
Khan made him work for it.
Defending his middleweight title on Saturday, Canelo Alvarez faced a fleet-footed challenger in Amir Khan. By round 6 Khan’s energy and ingenuity in the ring flagged, and that was when he took a powerhouse right to the chin from the champ and it was lights out. At the end of the night, Alvarez exited Las Vegas’s T-Mobile arena, WBC champion status intact.
The punch that ended the match was a real sledgehammer blow, and it almost smarts just to watch it, especially in slow-motion:
Slow motion of the Knockout for @Canelo #CaneloKhan 📽 pic.twitter.com/FYhJgJSdU2
— BOXING CORNER 2️⃣4️⃣/7️⃣ (@boxingcorner247) May 8, 2016
Gennady Golovkin, current unified WBA, IBF, IBO, and WBC middleweight champion, was at ringside for the Alvarez-Khan faceoff. ESPN reported that after the match, Alvarez co-trainer and manager Jose Reynoso gestured to Golovkin, appearing to invite him into the ring.
The undefeated Golovkin made it clear on Twitter that he was ready to go when Alvarez was:
Big respect to all fighters tonight. I am ready, @Canelo. #CaneloKhan 👊👊👊
— Gennadiy Golovkin (@GGGBoxing) May 8, 2016
ESPN reported that battle is coming:
Alvarez, viewed by many as the new face of boxing in the wake of the recent retirements of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and Golovkin are supposed to fight in the fall, based on a deal they made with the WBC. Under the signed agreement, they both were allowed to take an interim fight. Golovkin knocked Dominic Wade out in two rounds on April 23, and then Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) smashed Khan (31-4, 19 KOs).
For all the authority in the punch that turned out Khan’s lights, it wasn’t that easy a match for Alvarez. His translated comments afterwards, according to ESPN, indicated Alvarez knew that Khan “was very fast” and that he “knew it would be competitive in the beginning.” But Alvarez also stated he had time on his side.
He again issued a straightforward challenge to Golovkin following up on statements he’d made in November of 2015: “Like I said in Mexico, ‘We don’t fuck around.’ We don’t come to play in this sport. I fear no one in this sport. I’ll fight him right now. Let’s put the gloves on and get in there with him.”
That match is currently on for September. It looks like Alvarez is pumped to ensure it’s some kind of battle royale, but up against another high-octane puncher like Golovkin, he’ll need to be able to count on more than just a chance at a single knockout blow.
h/t ESPN
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