By Edward Chaykovsky
Shah Khan, father of British star Amir Khan, says his son was hungry for a big fight and he finally has it. On Tuesday it was announced that Khan would face WBC middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on May 7th. The fight takes place at the brand new T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the bout.
For the last two to three years, Khan has been trying to get fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. A lot of time was wasted and the fights never became a reality.
Because of his pursuits, Khan has been inactive since a 2014 twelve round decision victory over Chris Algieri.
Unlike past fights where Khan was chasing after Mayweather and Pacquiao, the opportunity to face Canelo was presented to him by Golden Boy Promotions.
Shah Khan explained to Sky Sports News HQ: "Amir always wanted a big fight and this is the reason he was chasing Floyd Mayweather, then Manny Pacquiao. After those guys, Alvarez is the guy out there. Amir wants the best fights, the big fights. Golden Boy [Promotions] got in touch with us and we were talking with [Amir's adviser] Al Haymon as well, and we all got together and made it happen. The fight was put to us and Amir has never ducked anybody. If it is a big fight, he stands up for it."
"It is a big step. But Amir is at a level now where he is mixing with the big guys. His name always gets mentioned with these sort of guys. He deserves these fights and he is up for it. He is ready for these sort of fights as well. Amir, when he was younger, when he went to the Olympic Games, nobody gave him a chance even then. They said 'he's a kid, he can't handle these guys', but look what he did [Khan won a silver medal as a 17-year-old in 2004]."
Shah is not worried about a potential huge weight advantage in favor of Canelo. He says Amir will gain plenty of muscle while training with Virgil Hunter and the weight advantage won't be as significant as some would expect.
"There is 8-pounds difference. Amir is a big guy as well, there is not a lot in the height difference. We will kind of build up his weight well. His trainer Virgil [Hunter] was up for the fight. He said '8-pounds is no problem to us at all'. They will put muscle on him. Amir has got good reach, he has a good physique. He is a nice tall guy, with long reach. He is made for that sort of weight," Shah said.
