Khan’s loss to Alvarez was expected as he struggled on the scale for having moved up two weight limits from 147 to 160, even if it was fought at catch weight of 155 pounds.
The primary motivating factor for Khan to challenge Alvarez at 160 may have been the record purse that he was offered which was reported at $2 million excluding TV and other revenues.
Khan was doing well in the first five rounds with the judges scoring the fight almost even as Khan was trying to prolong the fight hoping to score a win on points at the end of the 12-round title fight. But he was visibly slower compared to his previous fights at 147.
After the fight, Khan was rushed to a hospital for the usual check up following his devastating knockout loss. Khan said he intends to go back to his ideal weight of 147 pounds.
“I’m naturally 147, and this challenge came, and it was hard to turn down,” Khan said. “My natural weight is 147, and I will probably go back down to that.” he said after the fight.
Veteran trainer Robert Garcia believes Khan will be ale to bounce back provided he moves down to 147 where he is more comfortable fighting.
“There are different fighters who take a knockout differently…. their body, their mind, their brain take it differently. Khan has been knocked out before – not only once, not only twice. He’s been knocked out a few times before and he comes back. He looked okay after the fight. He seemed okay about it. I seen some videos and some interviews of him and he looked good. He’s probably one of those fighters who gets knocked out and does his things good or even better,” Garcia explained to BoxingScene.com.
“There are some fighters who get knocked out once and never recover from that and are never able to be the same. Khan is one that recovers and stay healthy, maybe stays in the gym and maybe that’s probably the reason.. I have no idea, but he recovers well. So I think Khan still has some good fights, especially if he comes down to welterweight – he still has a lot of big fights out there,” he added.
There are at least eight prospective foes for Khan in the 147 pounds limit including a possible rematch with Danny Garcia, who knocked him out in 2012. They include Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Tim Bradley, Errol Spence and Jessie Vargas, among others.
in his Twitter post early this week, Khan said he will make a big announcement most likely about his next fight.
Hopefully it will be a rematch with Danny Garcia.
