Canelo-Khan: Speed kills, but brute force the difference

The fight the boxing world wants to see is Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez against Gennady Golovkin.

It's the only realistic 'super fight' boxing has left, despite the heavyweight scene currently seeing a resurgence.

The only problem is, once again, politics and promoters get in the way.

Last week Golovkin fought Dominic Wade, and annihilated him, as everyone expected.

Canelo will fight Amir Khan this Sunday.

When Golovkin vanquished David Lemieux in October last year, most thought GGG would next fight the winner of Cotto-Canelo.

But here we are, and no progress has been made.

Canelo is the heir apparent, destined to take over the throne of Boxing's King.

It's hard to believe he is still only 25-years-old.

Already he's taken on Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and co.

He should be fighting Golovkin.

In the fight game matchups are made using the risk/reward formula, and Khan looks like a good fight for Canelo with this in mind.

Khan is a financial draw. He's built his name as an exciting fighter and has a diverse fan base from both Britain and parts of Asia, given his heritage.

But, his best work has been done as a Lightweight and Light Welterweight. It was only in December 2014 that he stepped up to the Welterweight limit. Now he steps up almost three divisions to take on Canelo.

On the face of it, Khan seems like a safe bet for Canelo. He's a name fighter, with a suspect chin, not known for his knockout power and someone fighting way out of his weight class.

But Khan's best asset is speed and it's the very asset that has shown to be Canelo's Achilles heel.

We saw Canelo exposed somewhat in the Floyd Mayweather fight, with the Mexican unable to deal with Mayweather’s hand speed and movement. He struggled to close the distance and looked sluggish, without throwing anything of note.

Even most recently against Miguel Cotto, the Puerto Rican won the early rounds using his jab and speed to fight on the outside. It wasn't until Cotto tired did the fight come back to the Mexican.

There’s a multimillion dollar carrot dangling for Canelo after this fight, with pressure to make a Golovkin fight mounting, but he risks that substantial pay day against Amir Khan.

The fact Khan is fighting at Middleweight for the 160 pound title* is ludicrous.

The fight itself will be fought at an agreed weight of 155 pounds, given Canelo's ( and Miguel Cotto's) appetite for not fighting at Middleweight, despite being a Middleweight World Champion.

Canelo has always been marked as an elite fighter, with the potential to go to the next level. We've all been waiting for him to assume the mantle and it seems like he's finally comfortable wearing it.

He gave us some doubts in his performance against Mayweather, but to be fair - he was only 23 at the time.

Canelo showed he had matured is his fight with Cotto and had he pressed a bit more, he could have got Cotto out of there earlier than a decision victory.

Khan’s only hope of winning would have to be a decision victory and I expect him to fight on the outside, score and then stay out of range. If he gets caught on the inside, and Canelo lands, it could be a very short night.

The Khan fight will do reasonable business. But it's not the fight boxing fans want to see.

It's time boxing learnt that if you don't give fans what they want, they'll go somewhere where they can get it. Namely, the UFC.

I expect Canelo to win on Sunday, but should he come unstuck, plans to tackle Golovkin will take a massive nose dive.

Not good news for Canelo or the sport of Boxing.

ADAM SANTAROSSA

Mundine v Green: Sliding Doors

Despite the fact that the continued debate around an Anthony Mundine-Danny Green rematch makes boxing purists in Australia cringe, the clash is still the biggest fight in the country.

It will happen eventually, and it’s what I’ve been saying ever since they squared off last time.

The rematch is a money fight. It captures the public’s interest, and it will do good business for all involved. 

Whether it goes above and beyond the first encounter, it’s hard to say, but given the experience of Mundine-Green in selling a fight, they’ll make enough noise to fill the seats.

When the fight will happen is the biggest unknown. It could happen as soon as early 2016 or it could be this time next year. 

It’s a true case of sliding doors, with one fighter’s movements directly affecting the other, and crucially in the sport of boxing, timing is everything.

In terms of how the fight will go – I still think Anthony Mundine is the winner. He’s just a better fighter, as was shown in the first fight.

That’s not to be disrespectful to Danny Green, because I think he has a better chance of winning the rematch than he ever did in the initial encounter.

Weight is the biggest obstacle to overcome. Mundine is currently fighting as a Junior Middleweight and Green is several weight classes away at Cruiserweight.

The light-heavyweight mark, or at least a catch weight around that territory, is the likely outcome the fighters will arrive at.

Green hasn’t seemed interested in getting near that mark mind you in his most recent comeback, and if he wants to place pressure on Mundine and seize control in their continued PR battle, hitting the light-heavyweight limit would be a good start.

Obviously Green will want to fight as heavy as possible, given the added weight favours him. He’s a bigger puncher and has the bigger frame, but it’s not the only way he’ll benefit.

The higher the weight class, the more Mundine will lose in speed - his biggest asset - as a consequence of carrying more. Sure he’ll probably bring increased punching power, going up in weight, but when was the last time The Man knocked someone out.

I also think Danny Green has become a better boxer since moving from the Super Middleweight division.

He was known for his come forward approach, and he would just go through guys - case in point, his first fight with Markus Beyer.

But moving up the weights, he didn’t have the advantage in power or size anymore. This has meant he’s had to pick his shots, go to the outside increasingly and he's become a better boxer and more rounded. 

His fight with Krystof Wlodarczyk is the best example of that, despite the way it ended.  

So I really think the pair are more closely matched now as fighters than they were in the first fight.

Anthony Mundine fights Charles Hatley on November 11, whilst Danny Green fights Konni Konrad on December 2.

If Mundine loses to Hatley, I think the next fight he signs is the Green rematch.

But the big fight that the Mundine camp will have their eye on will be the highly anticipated clash between Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez on November 22.

The Mundine camp are no doubt eyeing off the loser, with the winner likely to move on to either a mega fight with Gennady Golovkin or the ‘retired’ Floyd Mayweather.

Mundine’s camp has also said they’d be willing to jump in with Golovkin, as ridiculous as that sounds. But if Daniel Geale can score a fight with Golovkin, there’s no reason Mundine can’t deal his way into an opportunity.

Golovkin could even use such a fight to test the waters in the junior middleweight ranks, with the likelihood of both Cotto and Canelo making him come down in weight to face them. The Golovkin camp would see Mundine as a name fighter, who to them doesn’t really bring considerable risk at upsetting future plans.

*Cotto-Canelo fighting for Middleweight title, but will fight closer to Junior Middleweight as contracted. 

Many see hand speed and slickness as to the Golovkin kryptonite, and maybe that’s where Mundine fancies his chances. But I think people are mad to underestimate Golovkin’s boxing ability. Eastern European fighters are skilled in the fundamental elements of boxing – a good jab and tight defence – it’s why they are great Amateurs.

 Golovkin has superb head movement and when he makes you miss, he truly makes you pay.

So there are some potential options for Mundine, depending on how other fights go around him, but there are also cards for Danny Green to play.

I think Green is picking opponents to test himself, but not hamper his marketability.

Domestically he’s not short of people calling him out. Whilst there are some tasty fights there, Green knows a loss will hurt the appeal of the Mundine fight. So he’s not taking the risk, given the financial reward will be much less.

A potential fight with Sakio Bika would be worth watching, but that would only be a possibility if Mundine continued to drag his heels well into next year.

Interestingly though for Green, Roy Jones announced he’ll fight for the WBA Super World Cruiserweight Title against Enzo Maccarinelli in Moscow on December 12.

There’s money in a Jones-Green rematch and if it’s for a ‘World Title’, it’s even easier to sell. Roy Jones just may want some redemption after his KO defeat to Green back in 2009. It could soon loom on the radar, if the cards fall a particular way.

Mundine and Green will fight before they hang up the gloves, there’s no question of that. When it happens, well there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge yet.

It could all change at any moment. If you’re one of those people that wishes the column inches devoted to the match up would just end, well strap yourself in, because it’s only going to ramp up in the coming months.

Some will say it's time to move on, others will say it's time to throw down. 

Whatever our opinion, we'll all be watching, whether we like it or not. 

ADAM SANTAROSSA