AMIR KHAN’S trainer, Virgil Hunter, believes his charge will not be dwarfed in size when he takes on Mexican sensation Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas on May 7.
The fight will be for Alvarez’s WBC world middleweight title but will take place at a catchweight of 155lbs, a weight Canelo has fought at in his last four outings but which Khan has never operated at.
The Brit started his career at lightweight, won world titles at super-lightweight and has spent the last two years at welterweight, but Hunter revealed Khan will have no problems with the eight pound difference.
“Amir’s growing – the last two fights he had at 147lbs, it wasn’t easy to make the weight. He’s long limbed, he’s continuing to fill out and grow,” he told Boxing News.
“All those years of making weight have allowed him to do that. Right now he’s 163lbs, we haven’t turned on the gas yet.
“When he’s sparring getting ready for a fight, when he’s in that 153, 154lb range that’s when his stamina is high and he looks his best. Of course when he drops more weight he loses a little of that. 147lbs was not a cakewalk for him. It wasn’t excruciating, but it wasn’t easy.”
Prior to 2014, Canelo had predominantly fought at super-welterweight where he won the WBA and WBC world titles before eventually relinquishing them to Floyd Mayweather in a 152lb-catchweight fight.
The flame-haired 25-year-old is known for his size and strength, both of which he put to use while outpointing Miguel Cotto in November for the title he defends against Khan.
However at 5’9”, he only holds a half-inch height advantage over Amir and Khan’s reach is longer by the same margin.
Canelo usually re-hydrates to a weight north of 168lbs – the super-middleweight limit – by fight night but Hunter remains unperturbed.
“10 or 12lbs difference in weight won’t mean all that much if there’s skill involved,” he said.
“After all, Floyd gave away about 20lbs I think. Who’s to say that Alvarez won’t think he needs to be quick and maybe comes in around 165lbs on fight night?”
