By Corey Erdman
Amir Khan has a rather sizable challenge ahead on May 7, in a very literal sense.
Not only is Khan giving up substantial odds with the bookmakers as he challenges Canelo Alvarez for the lineal middleweight championship of the world on HBO PPV, but he is giving up a whole lot in the way of natural size.
Khan has spent the majority of his career between light welterweight and welterweight, but will be making the leap up two weight classes for this bout. Even with an agreed upon catchweight of 155 pounds, Alvarez is certain to be substantially larger than Khan by the time they enter the ring.
However, the challenger is viewing this as somewhat of an advantage, at least when it comes to how he can allocate his time in training camp.
"I do feel stronger. I'm not going to be naturally stronger than Canelo obviously. But what's going to happen is that I'm going to be happy at this weight and not killing myself," said Khan. "This time, I'll be focusing on my gameplan for the fight and improving my skills."
The task of improvement will naturally fall in the lap of trainer Virgil Hunter, who despite some initial trepidation about Khan facing an opponent of this size, is confident he can handle himself with bigger men. Khan's walking around weight is heavier than 155, and as a result, Hunter has a clue as to what he'll look like as a middleweight.
“I've seen him come past through this weight before. I've always been impressed when he's been at this particular weight on his way down,” said Hunter, who asserts that he and Khan are on the same page when it comes to how to handle their hulking opponent. “Usually it takes one maybe two weeks for a fighter to really buy into your strategies. It was quite convincing. It let me know that he understood what he could and could not do.”
There aren't many ring experts predicting a reigning, defending middleweight champion Amir Khan in the near future, even if they do believe he'll beat Canelo. Khan suddenly campaigning 13-20 pounds north of his comfort zone full-time is hard to envision, but the fighter himself is not necessarily opposed to the idea.
“We're going to wait and see the outcome, and what naturally feels good for me. I mean look, this weight could be amazing for me, where I feel strong and it suits me better,” said Khan. “Naturally, I don't think I am a middleweight. But who knows, by putting this extra bit of muscle and strength on, maybe it makes me better.”
