By Edward Chaykovsky
Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) is confident that he will get the last laugh when he faces WBC middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs) on May 7th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The fight has received just as much criticism as praise. Most of the critics have a problem with the weight difference. Khan, who moved up to welterweight in 2014, will now move up by eight pounds to face Canelo at 155. Canelo is known to blow up to well over 170 pounds on fight night.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Canelo, says critics said the same thing when he fought Manny Pacquiao in 2008. Pacquiao moved up by twelve pounds, from 135 to 147, to face De La Hoya. The Filipino star dominated the fight and battered De La Hoya for a TKO win.
“When we were presented with the idea of fighting a little, tiny Filipino Manny Pacquiao, I laughed. They had to convince me and say, ‘This is a good fight. You should take it. When Manny Pacquiao took the fight, he jumped two weight classes and took me into retirement. Who had the last laugh?," De La Hoya told the Manchester Evening News.
Khan himself is using the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight as a direct example of how speed and skill can overcome a significant size advantage.
“Sugar Ray Leonard fought heavy guys,” said Khan. “I believe I can make history. As soon as the fight was announced, people said, ‘What’s he on?’
“Now people believe I can beat him. I know I can beat him. When Manny Pacquiao fought Oscar de la Hoya, people thought he would get destroyed. He turned it around. I’m at my peak and I’m going to show the world how good Amir Khan is. I can take easy fights and make money. I don’t want to do that. I want to leave my mark.”
