By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – The pressure, according to Amir Khan, is all on his opponent for a change.
Khan contends he’ll be much more relaxed entering his WBC middleweight title fight against Canelo Alvarez because, for the first time in his career, the former IBF/WBA super lightweight champion is an underdog. Most Internet sports book have listed the 25-year-old Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) as a 5-1 favorite over the 29-year-old Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) in their May 7 fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (HBO Pay-Per-View).
“He’s a very good fighter, all around a good fighter,” Khan said following a recent press conference. “Has decent speed. But I’m really looking forward to it because, for me, this is the first fight I’m going into as an underdog. I’ve never gone into a fight as an underdog. Even the fights I’ve lost, I’ve always gone into every fight as the favorite.
“And, you know, when you’re the favorite all the time you might take your eye off the prize. This is the first time I’m going into the ring with someone I know can hurt me if I don’t focus. … If I lose focus for that one second, the lights could be off. So I have to make sure that I’m focused for this fight.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
