Canelo Alvarez to Fight Smaller Amir Khan, Continues to Avoid Gennady “GGG” Golovkin – BREAKING BOXING NEWS

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By Ian “The Boxing Historian” Murphy

Coming off of his win over Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has signed to fight someone even smaller, former 140 and 147lb titlist Amir Khan. This May 7th matchup is looking like another part of the emerging pattern of Alvarez selecting smaller, but name fighters to pad his (and Golden Boy’s) record and wallet with. Alvarez/Khan pushes back a fight with the other dominant force in the Middleweight Division, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, who is still without an opponent for a spring match. Of course Khan is the safer fight, as he is naturally twenty pounds lighter than Golovkin, and is a name fighter. Good for Golden Boy and Canelo, bad for boxing…

This fight is at a catchweight of 155lbs (again, another title match at a catchweight?), but we all know that Khan will probably have to weigh in with both pockets full of quarters to hit 155. Alvarez walks around at nearly 180 lbs, and usually is at around 165-170 on fight night when competing at 154lbs. In essence, Alvarez will have an even bigger size advantage versus Khan than when he defeated a game, but overwhelmed Miguel Cotto. Alvarez should be a heavy favorite against Khan, and it should be a rather safe fight, as Khan (who has fought most of his career at 140lbs or below) will likely not carry his power all the way to 155lbs. Khan is a champion and a quality fighter, but he is not relevant to the Middleweight Division.

Now, if this fight happens May 7th, and Alvarez steps up and fights Golovkin in the fall, then all the doubters (myself included) will have to eat a big ol’ piece of humble pie. Boxing fans hope this fight happens soon, and not five years from now, as “GGG” will be 34 this year, and is probably beginning the latter part of his career. Unfortunately, this appears to be less and less likely, as Golden Boy is taking a page out of “How to Build Your Brand With The Lowest Possible Risk”. The author of that book is of course, Floyd Mayweather, JR. Good for Canelo, bad for boxing…

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