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In a niche sport like boxing, true stardom is a hard thing to establish. The general public doesn’t care about fighters unless they are exciting inside and outside of the ring, a hard feat to accomplish for athletes who find success in caution. Always boxers are encouraged to risk their health, their career, and even their life for the audience. Like gamblers taking progressively riskier bets, fighters draw crowds when the stakes are high, when everything is on the line. Success is measured not by the opponents conquered but by the risks taken along the way. Just ask Evander Holyfield, who was never the star that Mike Tyson was, yet gained stardom by challenging and beating a foe everyone thought was too dangerous for him. Sometimes risky bets pay off. Sometimes the underdog does come out ahead. Sometimes stars are born from those victories.  Saturday, May 7th, 9pm ET / 6pm PT start times, main event closer to 11:00 ET HBO Boxing PPV Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Amir “King” Khan David Lemieux vs Glen Tapia Mauricio Herrera vs David Gomez Patric Teixeira vs Curtis Stevens  Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KO) has already made his star. Growing up fighting on Mexican television after turning pro at 15 years old, Alvarez’ distinct light-skinned, red-haired appearance earned him the nickname of “Canelo” or cinnamon. It wasn’t long before the young Mexican fighter began appearing on HBO telecasts, introducing him to American audiences where he could build his name as the next great Mexican boxer. Today Alvarez stands as the inheritor of the PPV mantle abandoned (for now) by Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and is the first Mexican fighter to headline a Cinco de Mayo boxing event since Oscar de la Hoya in 2007.  Alvarez’ record is an impressive list of top fighters who competed at super welterweight (154 lb), and his official record is stellar, with only one loss coming against ATG Floyd Mayweather. But Alvarez has also had his share of close and controversial decision victories, such as the ones he picked up against Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. Neither win was particularly impressive or dominant, and there are plenty of fans that feel Alvarez lost one or both of those fights. Still, impressive showings against fighters like Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, and most recently the middleweight champion Miguel Cotto prove that Canelo is no pushover in the ring.  Known in his early years for being a knockout artist, Alvarez’ style has developed into a boxer-puncher’s, with an emphasis on aggressive, foot-forward counterpunching, although Alvarez will revert to a pressure-fighter’s style if the fight calls for it. On the inside he can be devastating, leveraging his considerable size (around 170 lb on fight night) into concussive shots, but if his opponent doesn’t stand with him, Alvarez sometimes has trouble finding his range. Like a lot of boxer-punchers, Alvarez prefers opponents who come for him, and struggles with elusive moving fighters. Canelo’s defense is also nothing to write home about. Unlike Floyd Mayweather or other top counterpunchers, Canelo will sometimes take a hit to give one. So far his chin has held up for him in fights, but he has been hurt by flush shots before, and it could happen again.  Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KO) is no stranger to challenges and big fights, but he’s definitely a stranger to this level of boxing. The British Olympic silver medalist rose quickly in the professional ranks with his fast, flashy style, remarkable hand speed, and some punching power to go with it. His rise was nearly derailed twice, however, by two early round knockout losses against journeyman Breidis Prescott and currently undefeated Danny Garcia, and since those losses there have always been lingering doubts and questions about Khan’s chin, or punch resistance.  Even without those losses Khan’s career has been a mixed bag, characterized by fights that were supposed to be easy affairs for him that ended much tougher. Lamont Peterson gave him hell in a very controversial split decision loss, Julio Diaz gave him hell in a narrow decision win, and Chris Algieri nearly upset him again last year in a fight that was criticized for being too safe for Khan. The general feeling among boxing fans for the past few years is that Khan has been treading water while trying to secure massive fights against Mayweather and Pacquiao, instead of taking on more attainable but less lucrative fights with Kell Brook or the PBC welterweights Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman.  If Khan has one attribute above anything else that he’s famous for, it’s his hand speed. Amir Khan may have some of the fastest punches in the sport, out-speeding even Floyd Mayweather. Those punches aren’t always backed up by huge power, but when they’re too fast to see coming it almost doesn’t matter. Khan combines this speed with deadly accuracy at range, preferring straight punches that get to his opponent’s face by the shortest possible route. As a younger fighter Khan was more aggressive and eager to exchange, and more open to being caught by the kinds of punches that ended his fights against Prescott and Garcia early, but a switch in trainers has tempered Khan’s more reckless tendencies. In recent years Khan’s style can best be characterized as patient, disciplined outside boxing behind the jab, though much of his discipline falls apart if his opponent gives him significant pressure in the ring.  The general sentiment behind this fight is that only one fighter between Canelo and Khan is really risking his career. Saul Alvarez is perceived as the bigger fighter, with good power and all the weight of boxing’s big players behind him. Khan is moving up an entire division to take on Alvarez, and his weak chin is viewed as a huge liability against Canelo’s size and power. Moreover, Alvarez has plenty of experience at the pay-per-view level of boxing; Khan has none, and may be feeling the pressures that such an event involves. Finally, like Tyson when he fought Holyfield, Alvarez has the advantage of a rematch clause to give himself the opportunity to avenge a loss. If Khan loses, he may never have that opportunity. But like Evander Holyfield Amir Khan is very talented and somewhat underrated among boxing fans. The odds are stacked against him, but maybe that’s what makes the bet so appealing to him. After all, if Khan wins, then he just might take the mantle of boxing’s #1 pay-per-view attraction for himself. Can he do it? Here are the three factors that I think will decide this fight:
 My prediction: I feel like how this fight goes really depends on the game plan Canelo uses to open up the fight. Alvarez is more of a boxer than a puncher by default inclination, and there’s a good chance he will start the fight boxing against Khan, keeping at range while both fighters try to establish the jab. But I think he’ll be looking at how Algieri came out hard at Khan in the first round and try to get some pressure on him early. If that’s how the fight goes, then I think Khan will frantically struggle to find some footing until the middle rounds, possibly outright running to survive Canelo’s hard charge. Either way, I think eventually the fight will settle into an outside boxing affair, with Alvarez slowly working Khan back against the ropes and then pouncing on him. Khan needs to not just survive those early rounds, he also needs to be the busier fighter to keep Canelo from winning rounds solely for being aggressive. I think Khan will find it’s hard to both do good work against Canelo and evade him all night, and will eventually get clipped in the process. At that point it’s a matter of whether he can survive Canelo’s finishing attempt. I’m predicting an Alvarez late KO (round 9) but I would not be surprised if Khan finds his range and keeps Alvarez at bay all night to win an upset decision.
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May 7, 2016 22:48
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i hope i wake up to something really funny happening because i'm not staying up for this
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May 7, 2016 23:21
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gwan khan (predicting canelo in 10)
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May 8, 2016 00:14
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Canelo is not great but khan is worse I so I'm seeing a mid round ko.
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May 8, 2016 00:17
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I really can't see how Canelo loses this fight to be honest. I've said this like 30 times in the other thread but I think Canelo is a better boxer pound for pound, before we even get into the two weightclasses khan jumped to get into this.mike- posted:Canelo is not great but khan is worse I so I'm seeing a mid round ko. I think that's an overly negative reading of both of them tbh
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May 8, 2016 00:23
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I think if you forget what you know about the size difference, then you're left with a very competitive fight that Khan is very much still in. Alvarez always has trouble with movers.
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May 8, 2016 00:25
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I'd contend that Alvarez has trouble with tricky movers and Khan isn't particularly tricky. He's very good at what he does, but he's not very good at mixing up his game. Conversely, I think Alvarez has shown he's capable of adapting to tricky movers during his losses and close wins. E: I basically think that Mayweather, Lara and Trout all used their ring IQ to work over Canelo and I think Khan has a poor ring IQ.
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May 8, 2016 00:31
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The bottom line is that Khan has to fight a perfect fight to win. Which with Virgil Hunter in his corner, he is capable of doing. Canelo is the rightful betting favourite, but Khan has the higher talent ceiling and could absolutely win a decision if he outspeeds Canelo and avoids his power punches. Doing such a thing for 12 full rounds is a massive challenge though. One false move and Khan gets knocked out. Cigar Aficionado fucked around with this message at 01:02 on May 8, 2016 |
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May 8, 2016 00:56
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the problem for khan is he is one dimensional and one paced. it's a good dimension for getting him to the top but the very top fighters can adjust and once people get used to the speed he has nothing else. the danger for khan is that if he is outboxing canelo through 6, canelo's not just going to take this for 6 rounds, he's going to start walking him down which khan isn't very adept at stopping. i think khan will do well early, canelo will start catching up with him and khan will see going 12 as a victory, blame the size difference for the loss and then take his $10 million and troll brook with it on the reg.
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May 8, 2016 01:06
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The only thing that really interests me about Virgil Hunter training Khan is if it means that when Canelo starts to succeed in walking him down if instead of just running faster he'll try and dirty it up Ward-style in the clinch, which is something he's shown flashes of before but never fully committed to. I doubt that would keep him from losing if Canelo's consistently successful at cutting him off, but it would make for somewhat more interesting watching.
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May 8, 2016 01:12
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Are any of the undercards worth watching? Lemieux maybe?
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May 8, 2016 02:13
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none of them really screamed out at me when i looked earlier. might be interesting to see where lemieux is but not at 2am imho
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May 8, 2016 02:18
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Gomez is doing well. I kind of missed the Curtis Stevens fight while grabbing a beer.
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May 8, 2016 03:01
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I also missed the Stevens fight. Herrera is getting his rear end kicked here, which surprises me, as he's always given elite fighters tough fights.
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May 8, 2016 03:06
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Frankie Gomez is legit though. Herrera was doing everything he could.
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May 8, 2016 03:10
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freddie roach in the corner of tapia. khan should hire him for the 2nd half
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May 8, 2016 03:19
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What time do we think Khanelo will start in the ring? Trying to figure out if I should drive home or let my fiancé drive much slower.
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May 8, 2016 03:19
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probably 45 mins to an hour maybe? assuming this goes rounds + gap inbetween + ringwalks
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May 8, 2016 03:21
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It'll probably be in about an hour.
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May 8, 2016 03:21
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this might not go rounds judging by that first one
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May 8, 2016 03:24
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tapia with the reverse ortiz there
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May 8, 2016 03:35
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Lemieux making golovkin's win look better in retrospective
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May 8, 2016 03:37
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MMM Whatchya Say posted:Lemieux making golovkin's win look better in retrospective Yeah, he looked pretty good. I would be down to watch him fight GGG again.
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May 8, 2016 03:40
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"I hosed up.  " Tapia kind of owns
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May 8, 2016 03:41
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showing people replays of them getting knocked out straight away and putting a camera on distraught family members in the crowd are two things we could do without in boxing tbh
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May 8, 2016 03:44
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Did Kellerman just poo poo on this match up? I was listening to my grandfather talk about Duran and Hearns.
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May 8, 2016 03:45
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thehappyprince posted:showing people replays of them getting knocked out straight away and putting a camera on distraught family members in the crowd are two things we could do without in boxing tbh Interviewing anyone currently suffering from a concussion, as well
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May 8, 2016 03:45
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Do it Khan, beat this bitch
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May 8, 2016 03:45
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I was kind of expecting the commentators to play this fight up but they're being pretty realistic about khan not really having a chance
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May 8, 2016 03:47
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A chinny guy fighting up two weight classes, wonder what'll happen
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May 8, 2016 03:50
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Nice, GGG ringside
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May 8, 2016 03:50
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MMM Whatchya Say posted:I was kind of expecting the commentators to play this fight up but they're being pretty realistic about khan not really having a chance I think that's underrating Khan a bit, he'll probably rack up a fair number of rounds before he loses
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May 8, 2016 03:51
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MMM Whatchya Say posted:I was kind of expecting the commentators to play this fight up but they're being pretty realistic about khan not really having a chance i mean khan can't hurt canelo and if he wins it by anything less than 4 rounds he won't get the decision sooo
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May 8, 2016 03:53
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fatherdog posted:I think that's underrating Khan a bit, he'll probably rack up a fair number of rounds before he loses I'm not saying he's going to be shut out though. You don't seem to think khans going to win either. thehappyprince posted:i mean khan can't hurt canelo and if he wins it by anything less than 4 rounds he won't get the decision sooo Yeah, but commentators usually try to play fights up Jump King fucked around with this message at 03:57 on May 8, 2016 |
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May 8, 2016 03:54
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MMM Whatchya Say posted:I'm not saying he's going to be shut out though. You don't seem to think khans going to win either. It wouldn't shock me if he did. I wouldn't bet on him because Canelo could shut him off at any time if he drags Khan into exchanging like Khan is prone to do when he loses concentration or gets pressed, but he absolutely has the tools to beat Alvarez. The difference is just that Khan has to fight a near-perfect fight to win, while Canelo just has to have a good night. thehappyprince posted:i mean khan can't hurt canelo I don't think he's likely to hurt him because he's going to be moving too much, but I don't think he CAN'T hurt him. Certainly I wouldn't be sure of it. Alvarez's chin isn't bad but he got dropped by Cotto The Lesser and Khan can bang a bit.
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May 8, 2016 04:06
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state of this american anthem performance man
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May 8, 2016 04:07
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thehappyprince posted:state of this american anthem performance man When was the last time there was a Star Spangled Banner performance on a major boxing card that wasn't horribly embarassing
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May 8, 2016 04:07
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fatherdog posted:When was the last time there was a Star Spangled Banner performance on a major boxing card that wasn't horribly embarassing Like I'm not being snide I honestly don't remember
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May 8, 2016 04:08
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omg the falsetto on the 'free' and the staggering on 'brave' kill me now
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May 8, 2016 04:08
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Yeah Khan, do this
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May 8, 2016 04:10
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