Freddie Roach, the former trainer of Amir Khan, had the same reaction as many people when he heard that Khan would face Canelo Alvarez on May 7:

“Interesting.”

It goes downhill for Khan after that, at least in the eyes of Roach, who was speaking at an open workout Tuesday at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

“Canelo’s way too big and way too strong for Khan, I think,” said Roach, who worked with Khan before the British fighter switched to Virgil Hunter in 2012. “Khan has a lot of balls taking that fight.”

Roach continued: “What’s his best chance to win? Khan is a good boxer and has speed. What his new trainer is teaching him to do, though, is throw his combinations but instead of trying to get out of the pocket, he’ll hold. That’s why he has been a little boring in his last couple of fights, because he held quite a bit. ÔǪ

“With this big, strong guy (Alvarez), he might have trouble holding. The guy is bigger and stronger than he is. He might throw him around a little bit. My concept was to get in and out of the pocket with his foot speed. He has that kind of speed.

“When you try to hold somebody after throwing a combination, you reach a little bit. That could be a dangerous move. It’s an interesting fight, though.”

Would Roach have advised Khan to take the fight?

“No. He turned everyone else down, though. He has to fight somebody.”

Alvarez, the RING and WBC middleweight champ, has weighed in as heavy as 155 pounds. Khan has never weighed more than 147.