Divisive talent Amir Khan has spent the past two years rather whiningly hanging on the coat-tails of the now-retired-ish Floyd 'Money' Mayweather, but the former Olympic silver medallist from Bolton has just landed a lucrative megafight of his own.
In a shock move, Khan - who is the mandatory challenger for former conqueror Danny Garcia's WBC strap at 147lbs - will move up two divisions to take on Mexican boxing superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in a middleweight world title clash.
May 7th, 2016 @Canelo vs. @AmirKingKhan #CaneloKhanhttps://t.co/X61QVNfRpb
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) February 2, 2016
The fight will take place at the brand-new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 7th. It will be the Brit's first fight anywhere near middleweight, with a catchweight reportedly being set at 155lbs.
The catchweight perhaps makes this less astonishing than were the former light-welterweight champ to move all the way to 160lbs, but in boxing terms it's still a massive size leap for Khan, who had impressed in his first three fights at 147lbs under Virgil Hill.
Khan (31-3, 19KOs) faces a formidable puncher in Mexico's own Golden Boy, Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs), whose sole defeat arrived at the hands of Floyd Mayweather in September 2013.
Canelo vs Khan on May 7th, 2016 #TEAMCANELO pic.twitter.com/bzu482XbCD
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) February 2, 2016
It's a Hail Mary move by Canelo's former Golden Boy stablemate, who surely can no longer be accused of ducking domestic rival Kell Brook now that he's making a rarely-seen ascent through the divisions in search of a third world title.
Canelo detractors will point toward the Mexican's perceived avoidance of the real World middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, who recently stated that he won't fight Alvarez below the middleweight limit of 160lbs.
Instead it will be Khan who faces the Irish-looking man from Junacatlán, in a financially lucrative but physically perilous early-summer bout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOyERlL9t34
This fight getting made is stunning. Lets just say interesting choice of opponent for Khan. Gotta make Canelo a sizable favorite on paper.
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) February 2, 2016
