By Roy Billington

The middleweight division has finally got a superfight, but it is not the one we were expecting.

Fans have been clamoring for a fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin for months, but the fight has yet to materialise. The world of boxing was sprung a surprise earlier this week when Canelo’s next fight was announced, he will be facing the much-lighter Amir Khan at a catchweight of 155lbs.

Canelo has spent the better part of 6 years in the middleweight division and has only tasted defeat once, against Floyd Mayweather in 2013. Since his defeat against the greatest of all time, Canelo has been on a tear, earning wins over the likes of James Kirkland and Miguel Cotto. The Mexican has endeared himself to the fighting community with a frenetic pace and his serious knockout power, which fans had hoped would be put to the test against GGG.

Amir Khan has been a leading idol in the world of British boxing since his stellar performance at the Athens’ Olympic games in 2004.  As a professional, Khan scored 18-straight victories in the lightweight division before suffering a brutal beatdown at the hands of Breidis  Prescott in 2008. Following Khan’s defeat to Prescott, the Brit soon found himself moving up to welterweight, where he has been largely successful, earning the WBA and WBC titles.

Over the last few years, Khan has been aggressive in his pursuit of super fights, calling out boxing luminaries such as Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather at every opportunity. While a fight between Mayweather and Khan at England’s Wembley has been teased, nothing ever came to fruition, which is likely to explain Khan’s reckless decision to move up a weight class. 

In an interview with SkySports, Khan explained his radical decision to take a fight with Alvarez:

To move up a weight or two and fight a world champion, someone that everyone is going to say is going to walk through Amir Khan. I really believe that I have the chance to beat him and by beating someone like Alvarez it will definitely make me one of the best fighters in the world. I want the biggest fights in boxing. Alvarez, we all know how great a champion he is and how good a fighter he is.

As far as fighting advantages go, Khan should be the much faster of the pair, the Brit is known for his slick lateral movement and hand speed. To beat Alvarez, Khan will need to take the fight into the latter rounds and wearout his Mexican counterpart with volume punching. Khan needs to be the matador to the bullish Alvarez, who will be looking to put Khan to sleep early.

Canelo Alvarez is a terrible match-up for anyone in his division. Since Mayweather’s retirement, Alvarez has began to take up the mantle as the casual boxing fan’s favourite. In this fight Canelo has to be regarded a huge favourite, his power is scary enough as it is, but when it is paired with Khan’s predisposition to getting hit it seems like this fight is ripe for a highlight reel knockout.

A victory for Alvarez will likely set up another superfight in the Fall against the aforementioned Golovkin, should he come out of his April fight unscathed. With a win against Alvarez, Amir Khan will be in pole position to bargain for his dream fight against Manny Pacquiao or perhaps a shot against Mayweather, should he return from retirement.

Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan goes down on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.