On Saturday, the boxing world witnessed an amazing night of action at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. The fight that filled the arena with over 16,000 fans: Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez (47-1-1) vs. Amir “King” Khan for the WBC middleweight title.
Khan showed sensational speed in the opening rounds of the match, but little did the British fighter know, Canelo was waiting with a watchful eye, studying his every move while working the body. As the electric event progressed, Canelo began to plant his feet with more force on the canvas, lining up for what would be his knockout strike: a perfectly-placed overhand smack with his right hook. Knockout.
Nothing we saw on Saturday was off script. In fact, it played out just as most of us would have expected: Canelo’s stronger and more physically imposing presence presiding over the fast but fragile Khan.
In the hangover of the action-packed atmosphere, many have asked the same question: What’s next for Canelo? A fight against the most avoided man in boxing – Gennady “GGG” Golovkin – seems to make the most sense, and if our victor’s post-fight interview is any indication, it’s coming.
“I invited him to come to the ring,” Canelo said. “Like we say in Mexico, ‘Hay que dejarnos de mamadas’,” which more or less translates to, “Let’s stop fucking around.”
“I don’t fear anyone,” he went on to say. “We don’t come to play in this sport. I fear no one in this sport. Right now, I will put on the gloves again and fight him.”
Canelo and his camp had recently gone on record telling RingTV that GGG would need to get some more formidable opposition on his resume before considering a contest against the Mexican. The GGG faithful – on the flipside – are riding Canelo hard on social media, arguing that he’s cowering in the face of the undefeated Kazakh knockout artist. Little do they know (or care to acknowledge), Canelo has taken on top quality opposition in Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Shane Mosley, and others. Our dude doesn’t duck.
After the Cotto fight last November, both Canelo and GGG agreed to go up against other opponents before committing to duking it out between themselves. Now, the time seems right. We’ll have to wait and see what the sides bring to the negotiating table ahead of what will definitely be the most anticipated fight in boxing today.