By Jake Donovan
In a sudden announcement that caught many in the industry by surprise, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez has agreed to terms for a May 7 showdown with Amir Khan. The bout will take place at the newly constructed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO and founder Oscar de la Hoya confirmed the news on Tuesday morning. The fight - which will air live on HBO Pay-Per-View - takes place at a catchweight of 155 lbs., the same stipulation that was in place for when Alvarez won the World middleweight championship in a 12-round win over Miguel Cotto last November.
The winner will be obligated to defend against mandatory challenger and unbeaten, unified titlist Gennady Golovkin.
The showdown with Khan will mark Alvarez' first title defense.
"As the middleweight champion of the world, I will take on the best fighters in the sport and on Cinco De Mayo weekend, I look forward to making the first defense of my titles," said Alvarez. "Amir was a decorated amateur, a two-time world champion and is in the prime of his career. Fans are in for a great fight on May 7."
Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs) has spent the past several years hovering around super welterweight (154 lbs.), where he previously served as a champion. The boxing superstar from Mexico won his first belt in 2011 before going on to unify with a 12-round points win over Austin Trout, also earning distinction as the division's lineal champion in the process.
His reign ended five months later, losing a 12-round decision to Floyd Mayweather in what served at the time as the richest event in boxing history. The loss, however, momentarily displaced Alvarez from fighting on weekends surrounding Cinco de Mayo (May) and Mexican Independence Day in mid-September, dates which were dominated by Mayweather up to and including the final fight of his career last year.
The determination to reclaim the dates was a motivating factor in Alvarez - and Golden Boy - returning from Showtime to HBO. Alvarez announced his return in Sept. '14, but didn't officially reappear on the network until his 3rd round destruction of James Kirkland last May. The feat was among what will now be a five-fight stretch just outside the super welterweight division, as was his middleweight title win over Cotto.
As for Khan, it marks his first leap up in weight, but a sacrifice he's willing to make in order to land a long-awaited superfight of his own.
"I know Canelo fights the best and wouldn't pass up the opportunity to face me like others have," said Khan, who has been out of the ring since a competitive 12-round win over Chris Algieri last May.
The claim of others passing on such an opportunity is a dig at Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, whom Khan insists have avoided his challenges. Khan was believed to be in the running for a May '14 clash with Mayweather, even withdrawing from a scheduled Dec. '13 fight with then-147 lb. titlist Devon Alexander in order to preserve the fight.
The move turned out to be a bust. Mayweather wound up choosing Marcos Maidana on the strength of the Argentine brawler becoming the first to defeat Adrien Broner - the event having taken place one week after Khan's scheduled title fight with Alexander.
Khan wound up fighting on the undercard of Mayweather-Maidana I, scoring a landslide win over Luis Collazo. Mayweather survived one of the toughest tests of his legendary career in squeaking out a majority decision win.
Talks of the two colliding afterward became a non-starter. Mayweather was already booked for Sept. '14, to which Khan - a devout Muslim - was unable to accept due to not being able to properly train during the holy Ramadan season.
Instead, he went on to finally face Alexander, winning a unanimous decision in what was his final fight on a show promoted by Golden Boy. Khan joined the company in 2010, beginning with his 10th round stoppage win over Paul Malignaggi, doubling as his U.S. debut.
Their run lasted through the end of 2014, by which point Golden Boy underwent a massive transformation that led to a nasty split with adviser Al Haymon. The divorce resulted in a settlement between the two, but with Haymon taking a large chunk of fighters believed to be under the Golden Boy banner, including Khan who signed with the adviser earlier that year.
Pursuit of a showdown with Mayweather once again surfaced in early 2015. He was a leading candidate to land the fight until Mayweather happened to run into Manny Pacquiao at a Miami Heat game last January. It led to what become the most lucrative sporting event in history, with their May 2 clash generating more than $500 million in total revenue.
Khan's consolation prize was a clash with fellow former 140 lb. titlist Algieri, who was coming off of a lopsided 12-round loss to Pacquiao the prior November. Khan won the fight, but was forced to sit and watch as Mayweather chose his gym mate and former welterweight titlist Andre Berto as the final opponent of his illustrious career.
The rest of the year was spent waiting on Pacquiao to decide on an opponent for his April 9 appearance in Las Vegas. Khan was on a short list of potential candidates, despite an ongoing $100 million lawsuit filed against Haymon by Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter.
The assignment eventually went to Timothy Bradley, Jr., with whom Pacquiao has split two previous fights.
Khan was actually in line for a rematch with recently crowned welterweight titlist Danny Garcia. The two met in a July '12 super lightweight unification bout, with Garcia claiming a 4th round knockout win. Khan fought once more at the weight before announcing his intentions to campaign at welterweight.
A title fight never materialized until he was guaranteed a crack at Garcia, who claimed the vacant belt in a 12-round win over Robert Guerrero in their free-to-air Fox-televised clash last January in Los Angeles. Khan was granted a "bye" round by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in their unofficial tournament, as he was already the leading candidate to land a title shot.
Instead, he chose to move on - and up in weight as he takes on a dangerous challenge in Alvarez.
"My goal is to always fight the biggest names and the best fighters that is why I'm excited for this fight. Also, I would like to thank my team and Golden Boy Promotions for this opportunity. I know I have the speed and ability to beat him and will give my fans what they deserve on May 7."
Speculation remains whether Haymon is included in the "team" Khan thanked. The adviser is currently in court with Golden Boy Promotions, whose legal team filed a $300 million lawsuit last year against the company's former business partner.
Interestingly, Khan is one of the few boxers under Haymon's advisory banner who is free and clear to negotiate on his own, although Haymon still remains involved and is kept abreast of any and all talks.
“This highlights what Al Haymon’s management model is all about - providing the opportunity for fighters to make as much money as possible," Tim Smith, vice president of communications for the Haymon-created Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series told BoxingScene.com on Tuesday. "The management structure was constructed so that fighters wouldn’t be deprived of these opportunities.
"Al catches flak all of the time for keeping guys out of long term promotional agreements. Here we have a clear example of how that chosen business model works in favor of the boxer. It provided Amir the freedom to land the biggest opportunity for himself that would generate the most amount of money. We couldn't be happier for him.”
As such, Khan deemed the chance to avenge a past loss to Garcia less significant than the opportunity to face one of the game's biggest attractions. It also results in a return "home", according to the statement released through Golden Boy's press office.
"We are committed to putting on the biggest and best fights in boxing," said De La Hoya. "Canelo is the biggest star in the sport and as he demonstrated against James Kirkland and Miguel Cotto last year, he is only getting better. Those who predicted that he would take an easy fight for his first defense have been proven wrong once again.
"As for Amir, he has won his last five fights including an incredible performance against Devon Alexander, and now that he is back where he belongs at Golden Boy Promotions, his future is very bright, once again."
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
