Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan


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. It was the first major sporting event to be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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, and on BoxNation in the UK. It was also shown by Fathom Events at nearly 200 select movie theaters across the United States. In Mexico, the fight was aired on TV Azteca. In Mexico and Latin America, the fight was aired on the Space channel.

Fight details

Round by round

Round 1
Khan tossed out several jabs to open the fight, but failed to connect. A hard right cross to the head snapped Canelo’s head back, but he appeared largely unaffected. Canelo responded with a right to the ribs, and Khan responded with a flurry of jabs and a right to the head. Canelo missed with a powerful right hook, but Khan was out of position to counter the punch. Khan walked into a short left hook just as his own left missed, but did not appear hurt. Khan blocked a Canelo left hook with a minute left. Khan opened up with a flurry of three punches to the head, all of which missed. Khan maintained a high tempo for the remainder of the round.
Round 2
Canelo stormed out of his corner, but missed with a sweeping left-right upstairs. Canelo missed another hard right hook, caused him to stumble. Khan countered with a quick shot, but there was nothing behind it. Canelo remained aggressive, walking after his opponent and throwing digs to the body. Both fighters missed during an exchange in the center of the ring before settling in with jabs. Khan popped Canelo with a right-left up top but Canelo walked through it. Khan dished 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 mobile, forcing Canelo to lunge in and miss many early shots. Khan got hit with a short left, but was left unfazed. Khan threw a hard left-right followed by a pair of jabs, then landed a sweeping left hook to the head. Canelo did not appear hurt by the shots, but their speed appeared to be giving him issues. Khan remained just out of reach of another hard left hook from Canelo. Khan threw a multi-punch flurry to the face, but Canelo continued to walk through the attacks. Canelo threw a hard right to the body, but Khan quickly countered upstairs with a forceful right and then a short left.
Round 4
A hard right to the face by Khan caught Canelo off guard, and the fighters clinched. In the grip, Canelo slammed a left to the ribs, forcing Khan to back off. Canelo ate another right, but fired right back with a right of his own to the body. A triple jab followed, snapping the Mexican’s head back. Canelo missed a sloppy right, and was subsequently cracked by a forceful overhand left. Nevertheless, he did not appear to be dazed. Khan missed a powerful right-left to the head as Canelo turned with both shots. Canelo's right eye began to swell late in the round. Canelo slammed another right to the body as the round came to a close.
Round 5
Canelo threw a short left to the head early, but Khan shook it off. Khan moved feverently, making Canelo chase after him. Canelo landed a right to the body but was quickly countered by a left up top. Khan popped his opponent with a few jabs after taking a shot to the ribs a minute into the round. Canelo caught Khan with a loopy right, but Khan partially blocked it against the ropes. Khan landed a jab and then ducked under a left hook, but Canelo was out of position to nail him in return. The Mexican threw a three-punch combo downstairs, but he missed his shots during an exchange at the bell.
Round 6
Both fighters took turns missing meager jabs early before Khan landed an errant left hook to Canelo's ear. Canelo returned fire with a right to the hip.
Canelo answered Khan's Jab with a left hook, which hit its mark, turning Khan's head. Khan appeared slightly dazed, and the fight changed pace, with Canelo taking control.
With a loss in maneuverability, Khan sought to establish a buffer zone with jabs. Canelo, while respecting Khan's jabs, used the opportunity to land a couple of body shots to Khan's belly, sapping his movement still more.
Khan's head seemed to be clearing, but he had not regained the body movement which protected him so well earlier in the bout. Canelo feinted a lazy body jab as a cover to load a heavy right hook, but this time Khan parried the jab with both hands, attempting to pivot off it away. The jab was withdrawn and Khan was left off balance with both hands down. Canelo threw an overhand right in response, which landed perfectly on Khan's jaw. His head turned so hard his body had no choice but to follow, swinging his left arm out wide, which Canelo easily ducked. Amir was out before his body stopped turning as he hit the canvas hard, his head bouncing off it. After this brutal knockout, Bayless, the referee, did not count as the ringside staff, including doctors, stormed the ring. Canelo kneeled beside Amir, who took time to recover his senses.

Analysis

Alvarez was 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.

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. On pay-per-view, the fight sold an estimated 600,000 PPV buys, but HBO and Golden Boy promotions refused to release the official totals. The fight grossed at least $ in pay-per-view revenue, giving the event a combined live-gate and pay-per-view revenue of at least $.
In addition to 600,000 PPV buys, the fight drew a replay audience of 1.005million viewers on HBO, giving a total audience of million viewers on HBO. In Mexico, the fight drew a live audience of 3.3million viewers on Azteca 7, making it the year's fourth most-watched live sporting event in Mexico up until May 2016. The fight drew a total audience of 15.4million viewers on TV Azteca in Mexico. Combined, the fight had a total of million viewers in the United States and Mexico.
Canelo's potential earnings from the fight was about $15-20 million. Amir Khan's earnings from the fight was an estimated $13.1million, the highest for a British boxer since Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye in 2011.

Fight card

The fight card included the following fights:
Weight classWeightvs.Rounds
Middleweight155 lbs. Canelo Álvarez def. Amir KhanRD6 KO
Middleweight160 lbs. David Lemieuxdef. Glen TapiaRD4 TKO
Welterweight147 lbs. Frankie Gomezdef. Mauricio HerreraUD
Middleweight160 lbs. Curtis Stevensdef. Patrick TeixeiraRD2 TKO

Fight purses

Guaranteed Base Purses
The fight had international press conferences in three cities: