Saul “Canelo” Alvarez landed a devastating right hook to knock out Amir Khan in the sixth round and claim the WBC middleweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday.
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After surrendering most of the first five rounds, Alvarez smashed Khan with a counter-right hand in the sixth round that rendered Khan senseless before his body collapsed into a heap.
“Alvarez” promoter Oscar de la Hoya has made known his eagerness to work on the Golovkin deal as he addressed him after the fight.
“Khan’s definitely one of my favourite fighters, (because) he dares to be great”.
“He thought he was going to get me out of there in three rounds… but I’m improving and I’ve shown that tonight”, he said.
“I invited him to come into the ring”, Alvarez said.
“I was unfortunate that I didn’t make it to the end”, he added. “I tried my best and I want to say thank you for the support, but I will probably go down to 147 now”.
No matter the location, no fight would be more of a guaranteed moneymaker than Canelo vs. Golovkin with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao out of the picture, at least for the time being. “Amir took the risk and set the tone, fighters should fight each other”. The WBC has said it will take the tile from Alvarez if he does not begin talks for a fight with Golovkin within 15 days. “But I knew time would come to my favor, and you saw that”.
After the fight Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) stood in the center of the ring and called out Golovkin during the post-match interview.
Combat sports usually come with the possibility of some highlight reel finishes, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see this knock out by Canelo Alvarez played on boxing montages for years to come.
However, the 29-year-old Khan did appear convincing two divisions above his natural weight, and not the uncomfortably-small figure some had feared he would be.
Canelo Alvarez overcame a very slow start Saturday night and crushed Amir Khan the way virtually everyone expected.
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“It hurts (to take punches), but you’ve got to act like it didn’t hurt”.
