LAS VEGAS — Amir Khan is willing to put his chin where his mouth is. For that alone, boxing fans should be rooting for him Saturday night.
That’s when the former junior welterweight champion will do what far too few of his peers at boxing’s top level are willing to do — take a risk.
Boxing is the sport of risk-taking. It is the only one whose primary aim is to render your opponent unconscious. You can win doing less, but concussion creation, if one is adept at it, can make you rich.
It is fitting then that Khan’s challenge of WBC middleweight title holder Saul “Canelo’’ Alvarez will be the inaugural fight at the newly-opened T Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. Vegas is where people come to take a risk. The Strip is where they come to gamble on their dreams. In a very real sense, Amir Khan is doing both.
Only four times in his career has Khan fought above 140 pounds, and never over 147. Yet he will challenge the middleweight champ, who will likely outweigh him by 10-15 pounds by the time the first bell tolls.
Truth be told, even with all that risk-taking Khan still won’t really be fighting for the middleweight title because that would mean he was free to build himself up to 160 pounds, the division’s weight limit. Alvarez, a former junior middleweight and the most popular fighter in Mexico at the moment, refused him that alternative, insisting they fight at a catch weight of 155.
Why not let Khan go up to 160 if he chose?
“That would be giving my opponent an advantage,’’ the middleweight champion said yesterday about challenging a junior welterweight and then refusing to allow him to come in as a full-fledged middleweight. No, it would be letting him fight for the middleweight title.
Khan admitted his negotiators tried to get the catch weight lower and tried even harder to make one apply to the post weigh-in rehydration period as well. During those final 24 hours after weight has been made, a boxer can gain as many as 15 pounds, thus making a mockery of the weight restrictions long imposed by the sport. Khan’s efforts bore no fruit.
“I tried to bring it (the weight) down,’’ Khan admitted. “They didn’t want to do it.’’
They also knew they didn’t have to because Khan had grown frustrated missing out on mega-fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao despite several years of negotiating. Though both were his size, neither wanted a piece of his now 31-3 record with 19 knockouts so he’s opting to risk a piece of himself for his moment.
The chance to face Alvarez for a $6 million payday in one of the biggest fights of the year was too much for Khan to turn down and Alvarez knew it. That he is not a middleweight or anywhere near it made no difference. He was going to roll the dice in a town built on the losses of people who made that decision.
“I’m going into this fight knowing I can be hurt,’’ Khan said, which didn’t sound all that encouraging. “I know he’ll be heavier. I’ll hit Canelo and he’s probably not going to feel it. I’m going into this fight thinking I don’t have the power to hurt him.
“Physically it will be a tough night. Obviously I knew that when I signed on the dotted line. What’s going to beat him are my skills.’’
Khan believes he has a speed advantage that will be telling and boxing is one arena where speed can trump power. It’s not a weight lifting contest, after all, as Mayweather proved many times.
Yet there are limits, which is why there are weight limits.
Limits Khan chose to ignore because he pursued a mega-fight for years and never got it. He could have challenged fellow Brit Kell Brooks for a lucrative payday in the U.K. for the welterweight title belt but it would not have been what Saturday night is.
It would not be a mega-fight against one of boxing’s biggest names, a champion many see as the heir to the position of “face of the sport” once held by Mayweather and Pacquiao. So Khan opted for the biggest fight he could find, not the safest. He accepted a particularly challenging risk considering his chin has a porcelain quality to it.
Of his three losses, two were knockout defeats to Bredis Prescott and Danny Garcia. He has been wobbled and dropped in other fights as well, Khan’s speed unable to negate his penchant for putting his whiskers in risky venues.
Khan claims to understand this is a particularly dangerous path to take against Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs), who can be a powerful puncher at times and one who tends to club his opponents down not with one shot but with a series of heavy-handed punches. Avoidance, not always his strong point, seems paramount.
“That’s what makes this fight exciting for me,’’ Khan said. “I know I don’t want to be exchanging with him or standing there giving him a free shot. I’m the underdog. I’m not supposed to win this fight. That’s what lifts me up. I’ve always said I belong on top. This is the time to show it.’’
Such risk-taking, though unwise, is what gives boxing its primordial tension. Choosing to risk the consequences for a shot at greatness is no longer boxing’s norm. Amir Khan deserves respect for taking it.