When you see me in the ring on Saturday night you’ll find out. Hopkins came down in weight to fight the more popular Oscar De La Hoya at a 158lb catch-weight in September 2004. He’s a very fast, very elusive, very tricky fighter. But both these hiccups came when paired against defensive experts in Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
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Khan v Canelo is exclusively live on BoxNation (Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/Online & App) this Saturday night. “I’d probably treat him the same [way that he treated me]”, Khan explained. It’s not about winning it closely. I remember him saying a long time ago he wanted to be the first guy to fight at this new arena. It has been a while now since I held one and I want to be world champion again.
Has Virgil Hunter taken the raw speed and talent of Khan and injected it with a little ring savvy and defensive artistry, to create a fighter that is not only improved from the Freddie Roach version, but on a completely different level altogether?
MORE: Khan desperate to join Britain’s world champions.
Should he defeat Khan, World Boxing Council champion Alvarez will have until May 22 to begin negotiations to fight unbeaten, two-belt middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, or WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said he’ll strip the belt and give it to Golovkin.
“It’s going to be like a game of chess at times”, he said. It’s good for preparing to fight a guy like Canelo [Alvarez] who likes to put the pressure on. Most people who go through what he’s gone through get gun shy, but I was amazed, the first time I ever saw him spar, the attitude he had, man, I didn’t understand it. He has been wobbled and dropped in other fights as well, Khan’s speed unable to negate his penchant for putting his whiskers in risky venues.
“I remember when I fought against Kevin Kelly at Madison Square Garden”.
“It’s a responsibility. (The Mexican greats), they’ve written their story, their history, now I have to do mine”.
The 29-year-old has also distanced himself from what he considered distractions near his home in Bolton and accepted the challenge of stepping up two weight divisions to face Mexico’s Alvarez for the WBC middleweight title – finally securing the defining fight which eluded him when he pursued Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
“I know what Amir Khan brings”, said Alvarez, nicknamed “Canelo” (the Spanish word for cinnamon) because of his red hair. Boxing’s a business, and I’ve got a great team around me who have been looking after me in that sense.
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“He’s very calm. He’s always calm, but if you make mistakes, he’s going to shout at you”.
