By Ryan Burton
We are just days away from the May 7th pay-per-view clash between Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1) and Amir Khan (31-3). The fight takes place at the newly constructed T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip on the traditionally "boxingcentric" Cinco De Mayo weekend in Sin City.
On the pay-per-view portion of the undercard, former title challenger Curtis "Cerebral Assassin" Stevens (27-5) faces unbeaten Brazilian Patrick Texeira (26-0).
Stevens, who sparred with Canelo to help him prepare for his November fight against Miguel Cotto, is in agreement with most of the public who feel that the bigger fighter has the edge in their match up.
"Khan is a very fast guy. He has excellent hand speed. I have mentioned before that it only takes seven ounces of pressure to knock someone out. What you don't see coming is more dangerous than anything but we all know that Khan doesn't have a chin and Canelo is strong. It should be an exciting fight while it lasts. If Khan can stay away I believe he has a great chance and I believe if he gets hit then he has a very worse chance," explained Stevens.
The 30-year-old Stevens is focused on the task at hand with Texeira but admits that he would love a future showdown with Alvarez. The redhead from Jalisco, Mexico, has fought his last four bouts at 155 pounds - a single pound over the super welterweight limit - and Stevens doesn't view him as a full fledged middleweight yet.
"This is competition. We all want to fight the best, to beat the best. He has the middleweight title but obviously they aren't fighting at middleweight - they are fighting at a weight that is beneficial to him. Until he moves up then okay but until then I believe they are just making match ups. They are making mega match ups. He fights at 154, this is at 155, so a pound above the junior middleweight legal limit. This isn't at 157 or something you know. This is a mega match up at a catchweight that is over the junior middleweight limit," Stevens reasoned.
As far as his opinion on catchweights, Stevens said that like in almost all sports, superstars get the rules bent in their favor and he doesn't have any issue with Canelo taking full advantage.
"I am not saying its bad for the sport but when you are a superstar they bend the rules for you. The rules get bent. More power to him. I am not going to knock him," Stevens told BoxingScene.com.
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