Khan’s best weapon against Alvarez is his speed and agility. While he also has a killer punch, Khan isn’t as powerful puncher as Alvarez.
The 29-year-old Olympic silver medalist will be facing Alvarez as a huge underdog but he has what it takes to snatch Alvarez WBO middleweight title on May 7.
Because of his agility, Khan can be most effective against the slow-moving Mexican star by using his usual hit and run tactic. He needs to maintain distance to avoid Alvarez’s power punches, at the same time engaging Alvarez in a brief skirmish for an opportunity to score clean power shots.
Less than a day after the fight announcement, Alvarez’s promoter Oscar de la Hoya cautioned fans for dismissing outright Khan’s ability to put up a good fight against Alvarez.
De la Hoya recalled that he was once in a similar situation as Alvarez when he fought Manny Pacquiao in 2008. Pacquiao was a huge underdog leading up to the fight but he lost despite being the overwhelming favorite to win.
“The first thing that comes to mind when I fought Pacquiao. Everyone said that it was going to be easy fight for me. Pacquiao was very small, and obviously we know what happened – he won easy,” said De la Hoya to ESPN Deportes.
“Amir Khan is fast, tall and a big fighter. Amir Khan has never been in a boring fight in his life. He comes to fight, he is a warrior. Canelo is strong, but the speed is going to help, and he’s going to give a great show to the people.” de la Hoya said.
“The hardest thing [for Canelo] is going to be the speed and experience of Amir Khan, who is a fighter with a lot of heart. We saw that against Maidana. Mayweather didn’t want to fight Khan. Amir is really fast and he can make things complicated for Canelo in the same way exact way that Pacquiao did to me,” he added.
De la Hoya is right. Like Pacquiao, Khan’s fighting style can be frustrating to Alvarez. While they have almost the same height and reach, Khan moves faster and can come forward if he wants to engage his opponent in the pocket.
Khan is capable of engaging Alvarez in a hit and run situation where he can pile up points as he tries to stay out of Alvarez’s range. But he cannot depend on his speed alone to pull off an upset. He needs to engage and score while keeping his distance.
