By Edward Chaykovsky
British boxer Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) will attempt to repeat a nostalgic win, when he move up in weight to challenge Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs) for the WBC middleweight championship.
Their match takes place on May 7th, and Khan will jump up by eight pounds, from 147 to 155-pounds, to challenge Canelo for his world title. The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will host the contest and HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the event.
For the first time in his career, Khan finds himself to be a huge underdog.
Khan has no fear of the odds. He reflects back on history and believes he can achieve the same level of success as when Sugar Ray Leonard returned from a long layoff to jump up in weight and decision a much larger Marvin Hagler for the middleweight crown in 1987.
Khan has been inactive since last May's decision win over former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri.
"It's going to be amazing to be called the middleweight world champion and that's like a dream come true," Khan told Sky Sports. "Even though I achieved a lot in my amateur days and went to the Olympics and also as a professional becoming a two-weight world champion, I still think by winning this fight against such a big name in Canelo and becoming the middleweight champion will be bigger than anything I've done."
"I know it can happen, because we've seen it happen in the past, when Sugar Ray Leonard took on Marvin Hagler. He was in a very similar position to me, where people were saying he was going to get beaten up, get knocked out and get hurt. He was going up two divisions and he went in there and beat Marvin Hagler. Sugar Ray Leonard was a great, great fighter but I really believe this is going to take me to up to another level."
