Opinion: Making Sense of ‘Canelo’-Khan

Editor's note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

In an announcement that came as a surprise to many, it was revealed this week that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will face Amir Khan for the WBC, The Ring and lineal middleweight titles on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Few saw this fight coming together for a number of reasons. For one, Khan is currently campaigning at welterweight, while Canelo is the world middleweight titleholder. (The fight will be contested at a catchweight of 155 pounds.) Khan was also seemingly headed for a fight with either Kell Brook or Danny Garcia. How the focus shifted to Canelo is anyone’s guess.

At first glance, it doesn’t make much sense. Khan, who has fought only three times at 147 pounds after spending most of his career at lightweight or junior welterweight, will vie for Alvarez’s 160-pound titles at a catchweight of 155 pounds? It sounds ridiculous.

In a vacuum, this is a big fight based on the two names competing inside of the squared circle. However, when you factor in the weight differential and the idea that Canelo is supposed to be taking this fight in preparation for a unification bout with Gennady Golovkin in September, this is a very strange matchup.

If Canelo is supposed to be preparing for a 160-pound fight against a man who has knocked out 21 consecutive opponents, why would he face a smaller man with a fragile jaw in Khan? Canelo looked gigantic in comparison to Miguel Cotto when the two fought last November. Rumors that Canelo weighed in at somewhere between 170 and 175 pounds have circulated despite same-day weights not being officially taken. If Cotto looked small by comparison, what will Khan look like in the ring on fight night when he’s standing across from a fully hydrated Canelo?

What this fight seems to suggest is that Canelo has no desire to face “GGG” at 160 pounds in September, which is bizarre because he is the middleweight champion. It’s unlikely that Canelo would go from dwarfing Khan to meeting his match in both size and punching power against Golovkin. Considering that Canelo has yet to fight at the 160-pound limit, it seems more likely that he is simply out to get the biggest possible payday; Khan is the right guy for the job.

As for Khan, some may see this as the lamb being led to the slaughter, but there are very few ways this can go wrong for the Brit. With a disadvantage in the weight department, most won’t expect Khan to win, much less to last 12 rounds. As long as he doesn’t get smashed in the opening minute, this matchup could provide leverage moving forward.

With a decent showing against Alvarez, Khan could have the upper hand in negotiations for a fight with Brook or Garcia. As it stands now, with a knockout loss to Garcia and Brook being the undefeated fighter, Khan would be the B-side in both fights. If he were to give Canelo a good fight, or even manage to win, Khan would hold all the chips. Already guaranteed a hefty payday, this has become a no-lose situation for Khan.

The biggest loser in this situation will be Golovkin.

With Canelo looking to use his drawing power to leverage Golovkin into a catchweight bout, Team GGG cannot be happy with how this is all playing out. Team GGG has made it clear that they want to unify the middleweight titles. Unfortunately, one of the middleweight champions doesn’t want to compete at middleweight, and if Khan were to beat Canelo, does anybody believe that he’d step into the ring with GGG at 160?

It all sounds very messy, but as long as casual fight fans see two names they recognize, all of this nonsense about weight classes and world titles will be overlooked. On paper, Canelo-Khan looks like a fight that could have the big-event feel of which boxing is certainly in need now that Floyd Mayweather has retired.

Hopefully the fight won’t turn out to be the mismatch that it is on paper.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.