Saul Alvarez vs Amir Khan Predictions: British Challenger Confident Speed Will Be a Factor in Fight With ‘Canelo’

Amir Khan is considered a heavy underdog in his upcoming showdown with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, but the British boxing superstar is confident he has the tools to pull off an upset in their title fight.

Khan, who will try to steal Canelo’s World Boxing Council middleweight title on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, is already being counted out, as most analysts think Alvarez will be too big for him on fight night.

Alvarez is used to fighting at 155 pounds, while Khan has not fought over 147 pounds in his career. It is also worth noting there is no rehydration clause in the fight contract, giving Canelo the right to bulk up on fight to gain more size advantage over Khan.

But when asked about how he is planning to negate Alvarez’s size advantage, Khan said that speed will be a huge factor in the bout. The 29-year-old is confident that Canelo will not be able to chase him and will be surprised with a flurry of punches throughout the fight.

“The speed will help me,” Khan said via BoxingScene. “People say putting on muscle I will slow down but I haven’t seen that so far and my sparring partners have been having problems with my speed. Speed is what is going to win me the fight. Canelo is going to be hit by punches he will not see coming.”

Khan, who owns a 31-3 record with 19 knockouts, opted to accept the fight with Canelo at 155 after failing to secure big-money fights against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. The Bolton, England native has won in his last five fights, including a unanimous decision win against Chris Algieri.

On the other hand, Canelo, who boasts an impressive 46-1-1 record, will be making the first defense of his WBC middleweight title, which he captured via unanimous decision victory over Miguel Cotto in November. If he wins, the Mexican boxing superstar could be forced to defend the title against Gennady Golovkin later this year.