Canelo Alvarez knocks out Amir Khan cold. Post fight presser VIDEO Boxing News
In the first defense of his lineal and WBC Middleweight title, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez managed to knock out opponent Amir Khan in round 6 of their scheduled 12-round bout. It was a slow start for Canelo Alvarez as he appeared to fall behind early. In the early rounds, Khan did an excellent job of keeping Alvarez at bay by controlling his distance even while fighting off of his back foot. Throughout the first 4 rounds, Amir Khan mixed in single & double jabs along with combinations to keep his opponent flustered. Although he maintained poise and patience, Canelo's timing was a tad bit off early on as he missed wide with his punches. That all began to change in round 5 as Alvarez began to land more single shots to the body of Khan, which apparently slowed him down. Round 5 also brought some adversity into the fight as Khan suffered a cut over his eye from an Alvarez jab. It proved to be the beginning of the end for Amir Khan. The combinations Khan threw early on in the bout, turned into single shots and by the start of round 6, Khan was ripe for the picking. Canelo Alvarez continued to close distance on the British fighter and close to midway through the round; Canelo landed a devastating straight right hand off of a feint that sent his opponent to the canvas. Referee Kenny Bayless wasted no time in calling off the match as Khan lay still on the mat.
The post-fight proved to be just as intriguing as the boxing match as fellow Middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin made his way to the ring. GGG made it clearly known during the telecast, "It doesn't matter who wins, I need my belt." However, when asked about the weight stipulation that Canelo Alvarez's team wants for the fight to occur, GGG said, "For respect of boxing, I will only take fight at 160". During Canelo's post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman, Alvarez was asked about a potential September fight with Gennady Golovkin, to which he stated, "We don't come to play in this sport. I fear no one". The response sent promoter Oscar De La Hoya and the largely Hispanic crowd into excitement. The Alvarez - GGG title unification bout is certainly needed for the sport and one that boxing fans clamor for. But if the fight does not occur, both sides need to share equal blame. It is a common business practice for the more marquee name to make demands of the lesser-known fighter in negotiations. This is something that Golovkin's team is insistent upon not following as they feel the fight for the title needs to be held at the division weight limit of 160 pounds. For fans and critics, this has been a major debate and ultimately for the sake of the sport, hopefully both fighters can come to an agreement on a catchweight to make what will indeed be the first mega-fight post Floyd Mayweather Jr. era in boxing.
On the undercard portion of the PPV telecast, Canadian slugger David Lemieux defeated Glen Tapia via 4th round knockout. Lemieux started off fast against Tapia, who was making his debut as a middleweight. Lemieux, making his comeback after a loss against champion Gennady Golovkin, landed 71/142 (50%) of his power punches against Tapia as he won the WBO NABO Middleweight belt.
In what was believed to be one of the most exciting fights on the telecast, Frankie Gomez easily defeated veteran Mauricio "El Maestro" Herrera in their scheduled 10-round Welterweight bout in a unanimous decision by the judges. Herrera, coming off of a 301-day layoff was never able to find his timing and looked completely uncomfortable fighting at the new weight limit of 147 pounds. While this was certainly the biggest win of his career, it was not the coming-out party it should have been for Gomez. However, he did put himself in position for bigger fights defeating Herrera, who has given previous undefeated champions such as Danny Garcia and Jose Benavidez a run for their money in fights which many critics believed he (Herrera) won. Gomez intends to move back down to the Junior Welterweight division and perhaps it is also a move Herrera should consider, as he looked lackadaisical in his first bout at 147 pounds.
In the opening bout of the telecast, Curtis Stevens upset favorite Patrick Teixeira by knocking him out in the 2nd round of their scheduled 10-round Middleweight bout. The switch to acclaimed trainer John David Jackson proved to be key in the victory for Stevens. The win catapults him back into the foray of other top Middleweights looking to stand out in a division where Gennady "GGG" Golovkin seems to be second-to-none. With 3 Middleweight fights on the Golden Boy promoted card, the night definitely had an impact on future implications of the division