By Miguel Rivera

The president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), Mauricio Sulaiman, said Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is facing a very difficult fight against Amir Khan on May 7 in Las Vegas.

Canelo (46-1-1, 32KOs) vs. Khan (31-3, 19KOs), which headlines an HBO Pay-Per-View, will be the first ever boxing event at the new T-Mobile Arena.

Sulaiman feels the press and the boxing public is not showing Khan enough respect by continuing to discuss a potential fight between Canelo and Gennady Golovkin for the fall. Golovkin is the mandatory challenger to Canelo's WBC middleweight title.

Sulaiman says Canelo has been troubled in the past by fighters with fast hands and good movement, which are qualities possessed by Khan.

"It is certainly a very complicated fight. Who caused complications for Canelo? Mayweather, Trout and Lara...fighters who moving and fas,t and Khan has those characteristics," Sulaiman said.

"It's a fight with a lot of risk for Alvarez. The coin is in the air [on who will win]. We must pay close attention to this fight and then worry about what follows. Canelo will have to beat Khan [to get to Golovkin]. [Golovkin vs. Canelo is] a fight that has all the elements for a great event, but first Canelo must deal with Khan before thinking about anything else."

"Canelo vs. Khan must be respected. It is an important fight. Amir Khan is a very skilled fighter, has power, hungry and determined to win. Canelo has to beat him. The winner of the fight will have the official challenger (Golovkin) who is the interim champion. We are going through a good time in boxing and we should give respect to the May 7 fight."

"Canelo is a very different fighter than the one who fought against Mayweather. He matured, took the right path, had three fights and then beat Miguel Angel Cotto. He has a very important challenge against Khan and if he comes out ahead he has a very important future."