By Victor Salazar
New York, NY - Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs) will defend his middleweight title at a catch-weight of 155-pounds when he fights Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs), who is moving up by eight pounds, on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Just about everyone was caught by surprise when Canelo announced that he was facing Khan on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Aside from political reasons, the fight came out of left field because of the difference in weight. With that being said, Canelo says he will be ready no matter who is put in front of him.
“It was a surprise for me because there were other options,” Canelo said about the fight with Khan. “I’m here to fight whoever they want me to. We think he’s fast and is a little complicated. I’ve fought all different styles so I’m ready for his style.”
Canelo won a twelve round unanimous decision against future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto last November. In terms of styles, Canelo says Khan is completely different from his last opponent and might be a little more complicated.
“I think it’s a different style,” Canelo said of Khan. "Cotto’s style is a style I like because we can make a good fight, we’ll go toe to toe. Khan is a little more elusive, very fast and complicated, just a different style”
Although the fight is at 155 pounds, Canelo said there were actual discussions to make the fight happen at the junior middleweight limit of 154. But the weight of 155 was selected because Khan wanted to challenge for the WBC middleweight title. Canelo had few issues with Khan's position, as the Mexican superstar has weighed in at the 155 limit in his last four ring outings.
“I feel good at 155. When I don’t feel good I’ll move up. We can’t do it at 154 because it’s not a middleweight fight and Khan wants my middleweight title. We thought about making the fight at 154, but we made it at 155 because Khan wanted to fight for my middleweight title,” Canelo said.
