Boxing: Why Amir Khan's defeat to Canelo wasn't as brave as it seems

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez reinforced his status as one of the world’s top current pound-for-pound boxers with his decisive knockout of Britain’s Amir Khan on Saturday, in a fight which went much the way many fight fans predicted it would from the moment the curious match-up was announced.

The Mexican was up on two of the three judges’ scorecards at the time of the sixth-round finish, but as is the case with a lot of Vegas boxing scoring, many viewers had Khan ahead on points before he was dropped cold by a devastating right. Perhaps the three esteemed officials were caught up in Cinco de Mayo weekend while favouring the Latin sensation.

Khan’s respectable showing before the KO fit the narrative of not only the majority opinion heading into the bout, but of pretty much every confrontation between two fighters usually found with a few weight classes between them. The speed and finesse of the smaller man gave him the technical edge before the big hitter finally hit the jackpot.

And that’s the thing in a fight like that: it takes 45 minutes to execute the right gameplan when fighting above your weight, and only a few seconds - sometimes, like in this case, only one - to execute it if you’re fighting someone smaller than you. It’s a scenario almost as old as boxing itself. The law of averages caught up with Khan just shy of the halfway point.

That said, the beaten Bolton boxer hasn’t come out of his third knockout loss anywhere near as bad as he did the first two.

While many Brits seem to enjoy watching Khan hit the canvas after many years of hype, mass promotion and overly-confident soundbytes from the man himself, it does appear that this rather brave failed attempt to upset one of the best around at an unfamiliar weight has earned the respect of quite a few who otherwise never cared for Amir.

Unfortunately, I cannot say I’m one of those looking at him in a more positive light after the T-Mobile Arena showdown.

I have, on many occasions, defended Khan when it seemed the entire nation were queuing up to kick him while he was down. But, on this occasion, I am as cynical of his decision to fight Canelo as I was when news first broke.

Firstly, while some were wowed by the surprising choice for his next opponent, commending his willingness to take such risks to prove himself, it instead comes off as nothing more than the quickest way to swell his bank balance.

Khan has either laughed off or ignored fighters in the past who would have offered far more of a challenge than whomever his next opponent actually ended up being, for instance. And considering the fact that the Canelo announcement was preceded by two failed fight attempts against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, in that order, it seems clear that Amir and his team were pretty much working their way down the box office list until they found the most lucrative opponent who’d accept.

Many people would love to see a British showdown between Khan and Kell Brook, stemming from years of animosity, bickering between their respective promoters and genuine intrigue in a contest between Britain’s two most successful current welterweights. Perhaps now he’s taken on, been lamped by and cashed a cheque generated by a genuine top-five pound-for-pounder, Khan will stop pretending a Brook showdown is beneath him.

Even if Amir does instruct his handlers to stop messing around and seriously pursue the Brook fight, I would actually love to see ‘Special K’ and Eddie Hearn resist the bout, initially, and inform Khan that he is not worth their trouble. The role reversal may convince Amir to not only soften his stance on that particular negotiating table, but it may also teach him not to chase quick and glamorous pay-offs whilst imitating a warrior who’ll take on all comers.

You’ll laugh at this, but I was looking forward to Dereck Chisora v Kubrat Pulev in Hamburg every bit as much as I was the Canelo-Khan bout which took place several hours later in another timezone.

Yes, Pulev and Chisora have both shown to be beneath the top tier of heavyweight boxers - which speaks volumes considering how light that tier is - but star power and unblemished records aren’t the only contributing factors towards an intriguing fight. This promised to be a scrap between two evenly-matched combatants who have no qualms going straight on the attack in an open slugfest - a formula which turns heads at every level of the sport.

Unfortunately, this bout wasn’t as dramatic or as hard-hitting as their pre-fight antics were, and Pulev’s clear edge on ‘Del Boy’ - something which, once again, was obvious to seemingly everyone but the judges - meant many of the ensuing rounds fell flat.

This looks like the end of the road for Chisora, outside of a quick payday looking at the lights for Anthony Joshua and probably even David Price in domestic attractions.

He won’t fight the fast-rising AJ in anything other than a keep busy between mandatories, however, as the Germany win means Pulev is actually next in line for the unbeaten behemoth after his June 25 obligations against Dominic Breazeale.

One Brit who did light up the weekend between the ropes, however, was Anthony Crolla, who many thought would do well to come out of his first defense of the WBA lightweight title vs Ismael Barroso.

Crolla stopped the Venezuelan in seven after weathering a strong start from his challenger, as his stock continues to rise in the boxing world.