Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan

Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan
Date	May 7, 2016
Location	T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBC, The Ring and lineal middleweight titles
Tale of the tape
Canelo Álvarez Amir Khan Nickname "Canelo" "King" Hometown Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Bolton, England, UK Pre-fight record 46–1–1 (32 KO) 31–3–0 (19 KO) Height 5 ft 9 in 5 ft 8+1/2 in Recognition WBC, The Ring and lineal middleweight champion WBC Silver welterweight champion
Result
Álvarez wins by knockout in round 6

Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan, billed as Power vs. Speed and also known as Canelo vs. Khan or by the portmanteau Khanelo, was a professional boxing fight which took place on May 7, 2016, and was contested for the WBC, Ring magazine and lineal middleweight titles.^[1][2] It was the first major sporting event to be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.^[3]

The fight was Canelo Álvarez's first defense as the WBC, Ring and lineal middleweight champion, and Amir Khan's first fight at middleweight after moving up two weight divisions from welterweight. A catchweight of 155 lb was in effect, at which Álvarez had fought for his previous four fights. The fight was won by Álvarez, who scored a sixth-round knockout of Khan to retain his titles.

Broadcast

The bout was on HBO PPV in the US,^[4][5] and on BoxNation in the UK.^[6] It was also shown by Fathom Events at nearly 200 select movie theaters across the United States.^[7] In Mexico and Latin America transmission fight was for the Space channel.^[8]

Fight details

Round by round

Round 1^[9]

Khan tossed out a few jabs early to get things going but they fall short. A hard right cross to the head snapped Canelo’s head back, but he seemed to have taken it well. A nice right to the ribs by the Canelo but Khan came right back with a flurry of jabs and right to the head. Canelo missed with a monstrous right hook but Khan was out of position to counter him. Amir walked into a short left hook just as his left missed but he didn't seem hurt. A Canelo left hook was blocked with a minute left. Khan opened up with a three-punch flurry to the head but Canelo blocked them all. Khan’s speed was definitely a factor at this juncture.

Round 2

Canelo stormed out of his corner but missed with a sweeping left-right upstairs. A huge left hook missed by Canelo again caused him to stumble Khan countered him with a quick shot to the puss but there was nothing behind it. Canelo was more aggressive, walking after his elusive foe and digs to the body. They missed a wild exchange in the center of the ring before settling in with jabs. Khan popped him with a right-left up top but Canelo walked right through it. Khan lobed out four jabs to the head and body. With 10 seconds left, Canelo swallowed a slick left-right, giving Khan the round.

Round 3

Khan remained very mobile, forcing Canelo to lunge in and miss his shots early. Khan got hit with a short left, but he took it well. A hard left-right followed by a pair of jabs from Khan, who then landed a sweeping left hook to the head. Canelo was not getting hurt by the shots but the speed was shown to giving him issues. Khan remained just out of reach of another wicked left hook from the Canelo. A multi-punch flurry to the face for Khan again, but Canelo continued to walk through the attacks. A hard right to the body for Canelo, but he quickly countered upstairs by a laser of a right and then a short left.

Round 4

A nice tattoo of a right to the face by Khan caught Canelo off-guard and he clinched. In the grip, he slammed a left to the ribs, making Khan back off. Canelo ate another right but he fired right back with a thud of a right to the gut. A triple jab snapped the Mexican’s head back at the midway point. Canelo missed a sloppy right and was then cracked by a beautiful overhand left. Again, he seemed to be not bothered by it. Khan missed a massive right-left to the head as Canelo turned with both shots. There was some swelling around Canelo’s right eye late in the round. Canelo slammed another right to the body late but it was another round for Khan.

Round 5

A nice short left to the head early from Canelo but Khan shook it off. Khan was moving exceptionally well, making Canelo chase after him. Canelo landed a nice right to the body but he’s quickly countered by a left up top. Khan popped him with a few jabs after taking a shot to the ribs a minute in. Canelo caught him with a loopy right but Khan partially blocked it against the ropes. Khan landed a jab and then ducked under a left hook, but he was out of position to nail him in return. A three-punch combo downstairs by the Mexican but he misses his shots during an exchange at the bell. This was the closest round.

Round 6

Both fighter took turns missing meager jabs early before Khan popped him with an errant left hook to the ear. Canelo returned the fire with a right to the hip. A nice jab Khan but Canelo stormed back with a hard left hook to the face. Khan backed off and seemed a little dazed, looking to recover. Khan flicked out a series of jabs but Canelo ripped two shots to the belly. At this point it was Khan who is swallowing jabs. Canelo had seized control of the bout. Khan came in with a lazy left jab but Canelo detonated a bomb of an overhand right and Khan was out cold on his way down. His head bounced off the canvas and referee Bayless didn't bother to count. An absolutely brutal knockout, which could be the best of the entire year.^[10]

Analysis

Alvarez was surprisingly ahead on two scorecards, 49-46 and 48-47. Khan was ahead 48-47 on the third scorecard. ESPN.com had Khan ahead 48-47.^[11]

Reception

The fight produced $7,417,350 from the live gate, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. This came from 13,072 sold tickets. The gross made it the 34th highest grossing boxing event in Nevada history.^[12] On pay-per-view, the fight sold about 600,000 PPV buys and grossed about $30 million. This makes it one of the biggest recent PPV fights, behind Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Álvarez, and surpassing Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III and Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto.^[13]

Fight card

The fight card included the following fights:^[7][14][15]

Weight class	Weight		vs.		Rounds
Middleweight	155 lbs.	Canelo Álvarez (c)	def.	Amir Khan	RD6 KO
Middleweight	160 lbs.	David Lemieux	def.	Glen Tapia	RD4 TKO
Welterweight	147 lbs.	Frankie Gomez	def.	Mauricio Herrera	UD
Middleweight	160 lbs.	Curtis Stevens	def.	Patrick Teixeira	RD2 TKO

Fight purses

Guaranteed Base Purses^[16]

• Canelo Álvarez ($3,000,000) vs. Amir Khan ($2,000,000)
• David Lemieux ($200,000) vs. Glen Tapia ($150,000)
• Mauricio Herrera ($175,000) vs. Frankie Gomez ($90,000)
• Curtis Stevens ($65,000) vs. Patrick Teixeira ($50,000)

Press conferences

The fight had international press conferences in three cities:^[2]

• February 29, 2016 — Park Plaza Riverbank, London, UK
• March 1, 2016 — Hard Rock Cafe, New York City, New York, US
• March 2, 2016 — Five Towers Stage, Los Angeles, California, US

International broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Australia	Main Event
Canada	Shaw PPV Dish PPV Sportsnet PPV
Czech Republic	Sport 1
France	BeIN Sport
Germany	Sky Select
Hungary	Sport 2
Indonesia	tvOne
Italy	Sportitalia
Malaysia	Astro
Mexico	TV Azteca
New Zealand	Sky
Pakistan	PTV Sports
Philippines	Solar Sports, TV5 and AksyonTV
Poland	Polsat Sport
Portugal	Sport TV
Romania	Sport.ro
Qatar	BeIN Sports
Russia	NTV Plus
Turkey	NTV Spor
Spain	Taquilla
United Arab Emirates	DU TV
United Kingdom	BoxNation
United States	HBO PPV Dish PPV

References