What Khan, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist for Great Britain at age 17, really wanted was a big pay-per-view fight against Mayweather or Pacquiao, and he was being strongly considered for both the past three years. Khan had fought only three times as a full-fledged welterweight. He had suffered knockout losses to Breidis Prescott, in the first round in 2008 as a lightweight, and to Danny Garcia, in the fourth round in 2012 in a junior welterweight world title fight. Khan, 29, a former unified junior welterweight titleholder, was taking an audacious challenge by moving up two weight classes to fight Alvarez. Khan was ahead 48-47 on the third scorecard. He tweeted after the fight that he was OK.Īccording to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 64 of 170 (38 percent) and Khan landed 48 of 166 punches (29 percent), though only one of their shots really mattered.Īlvarez was surprisingly ahead on two scorecards, 49-46 and 48-47. Khan, who didn't attend the postfight news conference, was taken to University Medical Center for observation as a precaution. Medical personnel swarmed Khan, who needed a few minutes to get to his feet. Referee Kenny Bayless did not bother to count and waved the fight off at 2 minutes, 37 seconds. He landed another moments later, but Khan, whose chin problems have been well-chronicled, took the blows well and fired back.Īlvarez then found a home for a huge right hand that ruined Khan, who fell like a rag doll, his head slamming on the canvas. Alvarez finally connected with a big shot by nailing Khan with a left hook to the head. It was working to a tee.Īlvarez landed his share of punches, especially to the body, which he targeted in an effort to slow Khan, but he was having a hard time landing cleanly to the head. While Alvarez pressed forward looking for heavy shots, Khan stayed on the outside, moved around, kept his back off the ropes and threw quick combinations. He said he would have to rely on speed and skills, which he did until the violent end. Khan said in the days leading up to the fight that he knew he did not have the power to truly hurt Alvarez. Moments into the fight, Khan landed a clean right hand, but Alvarez barely budged. "Many people focus on my power and talk about my power, but I have many more qualities in the ring. "But I knew time would come to my favor, and you saw that. ![]() "Like I said from the beginning, I knew he was very fast and knew it would be competitive in the beginning," Alvarez said through a translator. He had tremendous problems dealing with Khan's movement, just like he did when he lost for the only time in a one-sided decision to Mayweather in their 2013 junior middleweight championship 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).īut it was not the easy night many expected for Alvarez, who at 25 is Mexico's most popular active fighter. Under the signed agreement, they both were allowed to take an interim fight. Immediately after the fight, Golovkin took to Twitter and indicated to Alvarez that he's "ready."Īlvarez's manager and co-trainer Jose "Chepo" Reynoso came to the ring ropes after the fight and pointed at Golovkin, inviting him into the ring.Īlvarez, 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. Sitting ringside was unified titleholder Gennady Golovkin, the fearsome puncher who, by virtue of his interim belt, looms as Alvarez's mandatory challenger. ![]() Alvarez and Khan fought at a catchweight of 155 pounds. The largely Mexican crowd cheering Alvarez on erupted as he retained the middleweight title in his first defense, six months after taking it from Miguel Cotto by unanimous decision. Then Alvarez connected.Īlvarez, the heavy favorite, landed a monster right hand to Khan's chin in the sixth round, and that was it, as Alvarez brutally knocked Khan out before a crowd of 16,540 on Saturday in the main event of the first boxing card at the new T-Mobile Arena. LAS VEGAS - Middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez had a lot of problems with the speed and movement of Amir Khan, just the way Khan and his team planned. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬanelo Alvarez stops Amir Khan, calls out Gennady Golovkin
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |