Canelo Vs. Khan: Khan To Bulk Up For Fight, Intends To Use Mayweather-Canelo Fight In 2013 As Main Reference
Former world champion Amir Khan is planning to bulk himself up for his May 7 middleweight title fight against champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
The scheduled bout, which takes place in Las Vegas, will be Alvarez's first title defense since winning the belt in November against Miguel Cotto. The winner of the upcoming fight will be facing undefeated Kazakh knockout artist Gennady Golovkin, the WBC's mandatory title challenger.
The 29-year-old Khan, who was a former unified WBA and IBF light welterweight champion, has only fought at 147-pounds as his heaviest weight class. And while a catchweight of 155-pounds was stipulated for the match, "King" Khan plans to put on some muscle, as he faces the 25-year-old Mexican boxing sensation.
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In a report by Edward Chaykovsky for Boxingscene, Khan's father Shah says he is relying on his son's head trainer Virgil Hunter to take care of the physical build-up.
"We will kind of build up his weight well. His trainer Virgil [Hunter] was up for the fight," the elder Khan said. "He said '8-pounds is no problem to us at all'. They will put muscle on him. Amir has got good reach, he has a good physique."
As far as strategy goes, Khan's camp is looking to revisit the 2013 fight between Alvarez and retired undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. "Money May" was able to give "Canelo" his first career loss via a unanimous decision verdict.
According to another Boxingscene report, the younger Khan says he and his trainer Hunter are already coming up with an effective game plan to conquer Alvarez, noting how the latter "looked really good" against Mayweather.
"He is going to be a little bit stronger going into this fight against me, but watching how Floyd Mayweather beat him; Floyd boxed him, was smart and he moved well - he wasn't standing there with him," said Khan.
Khan, who holds a record of 31-3, (with 19 victories by knockout) is currently coming off a five-fight win streak. He last saw action in May against former light welterweight champion Chris Algieri, where he won by unanimous decision.
