Molina: McGregor Loss Could Be a Sign of Canelo-Khan Outcome

By Edward Chaykovsky

Junior welterweight contender John Molina expects Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) to physically adapt to a catch-weight of 155-pounds.

Khan is heading up by eight pounds to challenge Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs) for the WBC middleweight championship. Khan, who last fought at 147, has been inactive since last May's twelve round decision win over Chris Algieri.

The fight takes place on May 7th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Molina not only feels Khan will physically adapt, he expects him to retain his speed.

"You got to remember that all fighters don’t walk around at our fighting weight, we all walk around a bit heavier than what we come in and fight at. I think it could be an advantage for Amir Khan, I think he can actually keep his speed," Molina told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

"I think Amir’s going to be able to adapt to his weight really well, but the only telltale sign is going to be whether he can absorb the impact and power that’s going to come his way, that’s the only enigma that needs to be seen in the ring. A lot of us fighter fight at a weight that we’re not naturally at, we come down in weight to fight."

As far as the outcome, Molina could see a similar ending to the one which everyone saw in the UFC, where superstar Conor McGregor moved up by a few weight divisions and submitted by the much bigger Nate Diaz. McGregor started well and did a lot of damage, but eventually the bigger got to him and did damage of his own.

"The only questionable area is whether he’s going to be able to absorb the punches from a bigger man. You don’t compare boxing to MMA but a similar comparison could be like McGregor coming up in weight to fight someone at 170-pounds and obviously the guys at 170-pounds can take the punches a lot better than they were at the weight he was used to fighting at. That could be a telltale sign of what could happen, but at the same time I think Amir Khan knows what he’s doing. I give him credit for taking this fight and I think it’s going to be an intriguing fight. I will definitely tune in for that fight," Molina said.