Canelo v Khan – a real coup for BoxNation
ALAN HUBBARD’S PUNCHLINES – 3.4.16
No doubt Kell Brook would have felt like punching a hole in his dressing room wall in Sheffield had he tuned in to BoxNation while awaiting his so-predictable IBF world welterweight title defence against no-hope Canadian Kevin Bizier last Saturday evening.
For he would have seen Amir Khan relaxing in California in the company of his US stablemate Andre Ward, who later that same night was to comprehensively conquer Cuban Sullivan Barrera in his light-heavyweight debut.
More significantly for Brook, it would have reminded him of the one that has got away – his much-vaunted super summer showdown with Khan.
Instead Amir has opted to go for bigger things in every sense, bravely moving up a couple of divisions to challenge one of the world’s most fearsome fighters, the magnificent Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’ in Las Vegas on May 7.
And if he wants to see that one, Brook will need to switch on to BoxNation again – because the Channel of Champions has exclusively secured the most intriguing and talked-about clash of 2016.
Like the Deontay Wilder-Alexander Povetkin WBC heavyweight title scrap in Moscow, also exclusively secured by BoxNation a fortnight later, it will be a collision of muscle, mind and ringcraft which fascinates every fan.
It is interesting that when the out-of-the-blue announcement of this fight was made the general reaction was one of real concern for Khan; his chances of overcoming Canelo seemed to be, as Muhammad Ali famously used to say, slim to none.
But opinions are shifting among many in the game who have thought it through. A number of leading personalities, including Carl Froch, who was never Khan’s greatest admirer, are openly wondering if he might just have the speed, both of hand a feet, and the downright doggedness to stay out of harm’s way long enough to surprise everyone – especially Canelo. He certainly has the bottle.
Froch says: ”You’ve got to give Amir Khan credit for taking such a dangerous, dangerous fight. I was as surprised as everyone when I found out that he’d be taking on Saul Alvarez but the more I think about it, he can definitely pull off an even bigger shock and win. But Amir has got some courage, that’s for sure.
“To take on Canelo – conceding up at least 10lbs in weight – deserves the utmost respect and for the fans it will be a great fight. For Khan, it will be a huge risk but I honestly think he can win this.”
Personally I have yet to be convinced but the speculation and debate is what makes this so special.
Yes, of course this is a high risk fight for Khan, who will be conceding weight against a heavy hitter and won’t have fought for the best part of a year. But by its very nature it is one that has captured the public imagination arguably more than any other for some time.
It is certainly one not miss, so make sure your finger is on the BoxNation button on May 7.
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Say cheese! Are we being taken for a Haye-ride?
There is a fine line between cheek and chutzpah and I am not sure David Haye knows where to draw it.
Chutzpah he has in abundance, which is why he gets so much publicity. But asking punters to fork out for his second ‘comeback’ fight at London’se O2 on May 21 against a heavyweight from Kosovo whose name will give the ring announcer a hernia of the tongue, is a bit of a cheek. To say the least.
The Swiss-based Arnold Gjergjaj, 32, may be undefeated but the records of the 29 nonentities he has beaten have more holes in them than a slice of Emmental cheese.
Haye’s last opponent, Mark de Mori, lasted 130 seconds. What’ the betting Gjergjaj prtroves even less resistant and falls even sooner?
Gjergjaj’s biggest win came last year, when he got off the canvas to edge Denis Bakhtov over 12 rounds – the same Bakhtov who Anthony Joshua blasted out in two rounds in 2014.
Ranked No.35 in the world by the WBC, Gjergjaj has only once before ventured out of Switzerland for a professional fight, when he halted Laszlo Toth in Hungary, five years ago.
Here are a couple of tweets posted immediately after the fight was announced:
Darren Pritchard:
Absolute rubbish .
Don’t waste your money on tickets- this fight stinks.
James Chadwick:
Oh dear David… Keep on doing this and people will very quickly think your taking them for a ride…
At least the Hayemaker is sugaring the pill by altruistically devoting ten per cent of the ticket sales to aid the stricken Nick Blackwell.
Those tickets, by the way, which can fetch over couple of grand ringside, invite punters to ‘an evening of entertainment and boxing.’
Good to see they’ve got the priorities right.
However no doubt the jack-the-lads and their lasses will be dancing in the aisles between bouts as they were last time. These occasions are not fight nights as we used to know them. Ah well…
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FIGHTING TALK
I’m a young veteran.
The 32-year-old Andre Ward is happy to be feeling his age.
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Here we are talking about Son of God on an Easter weekend, though Jesus Christ wasn’t a boxer.
BoxNation’s Steve Bunce gives a timely reminder of Andre Ward’s ring soubriquet against Sullivan Barrera. As for JC, as Hugh McIlvanney famously remarked to Joe Bugner, he did have bad hands…
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If he doesn’t stop it and we keep beating him like this, one, he is getting hurt, and two, why didn’t the referee stop the fight? I don’t get why… you’re not going to take him out to the face, you’re going to take him out to the body.
What Chris Eubank snr says he told his son in the corner during the fight with Nick Blackwell.
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He’s been beaten four times. I should play ping pong with him, if I don’t then I’m not the world champion I think I am.“I should slap him. I’m not taking my eye off the ball. I know I’m going to slap him up. I’m very fit already and I’m in good shape. Slap slap slap slap slap and back to Ukraine and then bring over the next one! If I don’t slap slap slap him then I need slap slap slapping.
Billy Joe Saunders in slap-happy mode for his title defence against Mad Max Bursak at the Copper Box on April 30.
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“Joshua can’t box. No, he doesn’t have a jab. Yes, his movement is terrible and he’s wide open with no idea how to defend himself. His footwork is hopeless. The only time he’s been hit hard in his professional career, that shot by Dillian Whyte in his last fight, it would have been all over if he had been in there with a big heavyweight who knew how to finish.
Apart from that, Tyson Fury thinks IBF world title contender Anthony Joshua isn’t a bad prospect…
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He’s a former heavyweight world champion and I am sure he’ll get another go – if he keeps barking at the right person, someone is going to bite back.
Anthony Joshua reckons loudmouth Shannon Briggs can yell his way to another title fight.
Tomorrow: The Big Interview with Miles Shinkwin
