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Amir Khan makes his case

Fighters Network
01
Mar
Photo credit: Associated Press

Photo credit: Associated Press

Amir Khan acquitted himself more than well enough on Tuesday, making the case why he took a fight against Canelo Alvarez and believes he can win it with assurance galore.
The Brit talked to media in a small collective at Hard Rock in Times Square and discussed Canelo, the RING/WBC middleweight champion, someone who has been comfy at 154 pounds forever, while Amir was not long ago at 140.
His chin is solid now, he told us, because now he isn’t weight-drained. “I used to kill myself to make weight,” said the 29-year-old (31-3, 19 knockouts).
Weak legs made his chin weaker, Khan said, and he now knows because he spars with bigger lads, like Alfredo Angulo, and doesn’t get dropped.
Going up in weight, he made clear, has made his chin more durable. His pal, former RING cruiserweight champion/former WBA heavyweight titlist David Haye noted the same thing after jumping to heavyweight. He used to be prone to hitting the deck against cruisers, Haye shared.
Now, Khan repeated that he thinks Alvarez is a strong boxer and has good skills. But after Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya pitched him the fight, he watched tape and found himself thinking that maybe Canelo isn’t the bomber some make him out to be. Maybe he’s “not as dangerous as people think,” Khan told himself. He noted that Miguel Cotto could digest Canelo tosses without crumbling.
He said he will enjoy being the underdog. Fighting a guy like Chris Algieri (no offense to the Long Islander, Khan stated) coming off a loss to Manny Pacquiao, didn’t get him fired up like a date with a Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao would have. But he made clear, that’s on him. Khan said that focus lag isn’t prone to happen again. He thinks maybe – just maybe – Canelo could be falling prey to looking past him, to a date with IBF/WBA titleholder Gennady Golovkin. That’s possible, I think, being that media at the event were consumed by that potential pairing.
Khan wouldn’t bite when it was posed to him: Would he defend the RING and WBC 160-pound belts against the fighting pride of Kazakhstan if he were to wrest them from the Mexican? “I’m trying to focus on one fight,” he told us.
Sage move; he noted he’d looked past foes and pondered bigger fish fries, such as when he was upset by Danny Garcia, in 2012. He thought that would be a “walk in the park” and instead he got mugged. “I don’t think I’ll make that mistake again,” he said.
Khan catches flak from some countrymen but he came off as calm and not at all big-headed in NYC. No, he isn’t taking the Canelo fight for the dough. He’s made good loot for a decade, so he could leave now and be comfortable, he stated. Bottom line: “I’m not doing it for the money,” said Khan.
And he said he’s over targeting Mayweather, that getting this mega-fight quelled his appetite for that quality fare for now. Indeed, he thinks Mayweather’s style might be easier to handle then the heavier handed Canelo’s.
Several times Khan came back to his discovery that his research made him think Canelo has a power reservoir he can handle – but time will test his theory.
Now he believes that, on May 7, we will all know.
Amir Khan believes he can defeat Canelo Alvarez with assurance galore. Michael Woods believes he can watch it with assurance galore. And snacks. Woodsy will have lots of snacks.

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