By Edward Chaykovsky
British star Amir Khan predicts that his speed will overwhelm Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Khan, who fights at welterweight, is moving up to catch-weight of 155-pounds to challenge Canelo for his WBC middleweight title.
Khan (31-3-0, 19 KOs) has been out of the ring since last May's twelve round decision win over Chris Algieri. Canelo (46-1-1, 32 KOs) was in action last November, when he captured the WBC title with a twelve round decision over Miguel Cotto.
Khan disagrees with the experts who believe the jump in weight will be a massive disadvantage for him in the fight. Khan has never fought above the welterweight limit of 147-pounds and there is no rehdyration clause. Canelo tends to rehydrate to well over 170-pounds on fight night.
Canelo might be bigger and stronger, but Khan expects his speed to dominate the fight. He anticipates Canelo pressing forward and he plans to throw very fast punches that will stagger the Mexican boxer and make him think twice before coming in.
"Stepping up a couple divisions has definitely given me more muscle and strength," Khan told scribe Nick Parkinson. "My speed will be a bit better in this fight. I've got a bit more power. When I throw those shots I will be throwing them with power. Every punch thrown becomes more perfect and the timing will be there.
"The speed will help me. People say putting on muscle I will slow down but I haven't seen that so far and my sparring partners have been having problems with my speed. Speed is what is going to win me the fight. Canelo is going to be hit by punches he will not see coming. He will want to walk me down, but he's not going to be able to cope with the speed."