Canelo vs. Khan: Complete Punch Stats and Breakdown of Alvarez's Knockout
For a while, it looked like Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) was going to execute his fight plan well enough to pull off the upset over Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Fast feet and even faster hands had kept Khan well out of danger for the first four rounds against the larger, hard-hitting opponent he had moved up two weight classes to challenge in a bold quest for greatness.
However, the tune of the fight changed in Alvarez's favor in the fifth, as the Mexican superstar found the range and landed a couple of precise body blows that rattled Khan. Canelo then ended Khan's dance number in the sixth round with a spectacular right-handed knockout blow to the chin, set up by a devious feint with his dangerous left hand.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
The punch immediately took Khan's consciousness offline, and he stayed down on the canvas for several minutes while receiving medical attention. It was one of the scarier high-profile knockouts in some time, but Khan reassured the boxing world on Twitter en route to a hospital stay:
CompuBox had the final punch stats from the match:
Fight Breakdown
Though many people predicted the final result, Khan did well in the early rounds and had come into the bout with the correct strategy. Bad Left Hook summarized the bout like so:
Khan did his level best to stay out of Alvarez's range from the outset. He circled around the ring, conceding the center to Canelo but doing well to always give himself an out. Before Canelo could get his feet set and let his hands go, Khan would use his blinding hand speed to throw a quick-strike combination before darting out of range again.
HBO commentator and boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. praised Khan's tactics:
The 29-year-old Brit did well to circle away from Canelo's dangerous left hand. He was wary of that appendage throughout the bout, and it would prove to be his downfall later on.
For whatever reason, Canelo didn't step up the aggression much in the first three rounds; perhaps he was cautious of lunging at Khan and making a fatal mistake. He started to make inroads with hooks to the body in the fourth, slowing Khan just enough to set up the carnage that would come later.
Saturday Night Boxing's Adam Abramowitz had the challenger up after four, but The Vertical's Chris Mannix thought otherwise:
The fifth round saw Canelo assert some control in the bout, landing a couple of blows to the head to pair with the body work. Khan had dazzled up to that point, but the punch stats from HBO Boxing showed that Alvarez had indeed landed more punches after five rounds:
Khan also suffered a cut over his right eye in the fifth, and Queensberry Rules could sense the fight shifting in Canelo's favor:
Khan's speed was mesmerizing, but it was clear that he wasn't connecting often enough or hard enough to deter Alvarez. It seems the judges weren't swayed by Khan's command of the ring, either, as UCNLive.com's Steve Kim reported two of them had Canelo up on the cards after five:
Of course, Alvarez rendered the judges' opinions moot in the sixth round. Khan, finally feeling the pressure and power of Alvarez, kept the fight in the center of the ring a bit more, perhaps hoping to throw a few more rapid-fire combinations to get the judges back in his favor.
Alvarez used cunning rather than aggression to set up his knockout punch. He showed the left hand briefly, just enough to get Khan to drop both of his hands to parry the would-be strike (a left hook had wobbled Khan earlier in the round).
Canelo took advantage, lowering his head and throwing his full weight behind a right hand that landed flush on Khan's suspect chin.
Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole and WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia—who had knocked out Khan in 2012—reacted to the finish:
Khan should be lauded for his bravery in challenging for the WBC World middleweight title. His chin wasn't up to standard, although steelier boxers than he might have crumbled against a knockout punch like the one Canelo administered.
Khan would do well to stay out of the ring for a while before moving back down to the welterweight ranks, where he can try to secure another high-profile bout against fellow British boxing star Kell Brook.
As for Canelo, he immediately turned his attention to Gennady Golovkin, who was in attendance at the fight and is one-half of the matchup that everyone in boxing wants to see.
“I will fight him later this year,” Canelo said, per the Guardian's Kevin Mitchell. “Viva Mexico!”
Whether this fight will be made remains to be seen. Both fighters could squeeze in another bout and set up the megafight for early next year. David Lemieux impressed with a fourth-round TKO over Glen Tapia on the undercard and could be a warm-up opponent for Alvarez, having already fought Golovkin.
Canelo's impressive knockout only serves to increase the appetite for a bout with GGG, who has developed his reputation on the strength of his own brutal knockout victories. It's arguably the best fight that can be made in boxing and certainly the most fan-friendly.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
