Click here for Kevin Mitchell’s report on Saturday’s fight:
Final thoughts
A huge knockout for Canelo wins it. Khan had been in the fight early on and his speed caused problems for the Mexican but the longer the fight wore on, the more Canelo’s body blows told. And they were enough to sap Khan’s strength and allow Canelo to land that big right - it was scary enough for Canelo to immediately check on his opponent’s health. Khan did not disgrace himself but Canelo was simply too strong. It looks like it’s GGG next for Canelo
Khan is - happily - well enough to speak
Question: What now for Canelo? “Canelo needs to step in with GGG. I showed my balls, [Canelo] needs to now. I tried my best, I’d like to thank my support.”
Are you going to go down weight? “It was hard to turn down this fight but I will probably be going down in weight again.”
Canelo speaks ... and challenges Golovkin
Question: Did Khan’s speed surprise you: “He’s a fast fighter but I knew time would come to my favour and you saw that”
What skills did you show in the fight? “Many people talk about my speed but I have many more qualities and I think you saw that. I like to surprise everyone”
GGG is here, will you fight him? “Like we say in Mexico, we don’t fuck around. I don’t fear anyone.”
Canelo beats Khan by sixth round knockout
Canelo has landed 23 punches to Khan’s four to the body. Khan continues to come forward but Canelo is keeping out of his range. A minute into the round, Canelo glides forward and lands a brutal combination to Khan’s midriff and then goes upstairs to Khan’s head - that hurt the Briton. And then it’s over. Canelo lands a huge blow and knocks out Khan on his feet. Khan is out cold and Canelo looks concerned for his opponent but - to the relief of everyone – Khan slowly rises. It was a HUGE right from Canelo to the side of Khan face and the Briton was out before he landed on the canvas. It was big enough for Canelo to immediately goes to his knees to check his opponent was OK.
Updated
Fifth round
A hard left from Canelo early in the round, and Khan’s legs wobble ever so slightly. This has been a magnificent fight so far, both men fighting near their best - Khan is exceeding expectations. Canelo continues to land bombs on Khan’s body but the Briton is doing good work to Canelo’s head.
Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: Canelo 10-9 Khan (Canelo 47-48 Khan)
Fourth round
Canelo closes in on his opponent and lands his best blow of the fight a big right to the body. But Khan’s hand speed is still causing Canelo problems. Canelo is still taking some wild punches that Khan is avoiding with ease. But he countered Khan well in that round and gave him very little space.
Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: Canelo 10-9 Khan (Canelo 37-39 Khan)
Third round
“You go to pay attention because he’s so fast,” says Canelo’s trainer. Khan has the early lead but Canelo’s strength is likely to aid him as the fight goes on. Khan’s quick left catches Canelo, as the Mexican tries to catch his opponent with some big body blows. Khan ends the round with another flurry that catches Canelo. I’ll have to give that one to Khan again.
Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: Canelo 9-10 Khan (Canelo 27-30 Khan)
Second round
“He’s telegraphing everything he does,” says Khan’s corner. And Canelo starts with a big swing and a miss to start the second round that Khan ducks easily. The Mexican then slips slightly and Khan darts in to land two quick blows. Khan is the more aggressive fighter so far but is leaving himself exposed when he moves in with those quick flurries.
Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: Canelo 9-10 Khan (Canelo 18-20 Khan)
First round
Khan gets a few boos as his name is announced, mixed in with a few cheers. Canelo is pretty much universally cheered. Canelo stares at the ground as he comes to the centre of the ring. Khan throws the first punches of the fight, and soon catches Canelo with a sharp right. A good, confident start from the Briton: and Canelo’s face is flushed. But he’s a famously patient fighter and ploughs on landing a good counterpunch of his own towards the end of the round. Khan’s handspeed wins the round for me.
Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: Canelo 9-10 Khan (Canelo 9-10 Khan)
The fighters enter the ring
Khan enters the ring, he looks pensive. Canelo is next in, smiling as he walks down the corridor toward the arena. Definitely looking the calmer fighter. Does he know cast members of Saved By The Bell are here? He may well look a little more agitated if he did.
The national anthems are being sung. Not at the same time. The British one is first up. Sung by a big British star, who I’ve never heard of. And I’m British. But apparently he’s famous. Mexico anthem is next up. And very nicely sung it is too. Canelo listens in the corridor, he looks calm.
Robin Bradford emails in with some thoughts on the fight. “Well all this talk about Canelo being heavier looks a myth on the night. Khan is 1/2 inch shorter and 1/2 inch longer in reach. Okay Canelo’s got the harder punch and stronger chin but Khan has stopped more opponents with body shots and is faster in the back foot. It’s up for grabs for Khan if he can weather the first 5 rounds and do an ‘Ali’ shuffle around the square on Canelo, keep the sharp jabs coming in and not tire or get into a silly power punching battle.”
Updated
HBO have decided to out subtitles on Khan when he’s speaking in the promo. I know England is pretty far from Vegas but, you know, they speak English there.
Gennady Golovkin is ringside and is asked how confident he would be against the winner of Khan v Canelo. He is ... diplomatic.
I’m very excited to see who wins ... I need my belt. I respect Amir Khan, and Canelo is a strong guy.
.@GGGBoxing shares his thoughts on tonight's #CaneloKhan clash with Jim Lampley. pic.twitter.com/TiUXVoBP8C
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) May 8, 2016
Updated
Pre fight predictions
Our deputy US Sports editor Bryan Graham reckons it’s Canelo’s to lose:
Thinking Khan makes it the distance. Canelo looked weight drained v Cotto and that trend could continue. Official prediction is Canelo, seven rounds to five, in the fight of Khan’s career.
We also have a Twitter prediction from Ben Anderson. When we got the tweet I thought, “Huh, he’s got the same name as Ben Anderson, the guy who does those great reports on Isis for Vice.” Then it turned out it IS that Ben Anderson. This is better than Anna Paquin’s cameo appearance.
@BryanAGraham @tom_lutz Canelo slows Khan down with bodywork, then stops him
— Ben Anderson (@BenJohnAnderson) May 7, 2016
Tale of the tape
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez Name Amir Khan
Jalisco, Mexico Birth place Bolton, England
25 Age 29
155lbs Weight 147lbs
46-1-1 (32) Record 31-3 (19)
67 KO % 56
Orthodox Stance Orthodox
5’ 9” Height 5’ 8.5”
70.5” Reach 71”
Lemieux beats Tapia by TKO. His corner throws in the towel after Tapia is put down by a right. Tapia clearly doesn’t agree and holds his hands to his head. But I guess Tapia’s team didn’t want to see their fighter take more punishment. Khan v Canelo is on next!
Updated
Anna Paquin, star of The One With the Vampires That Got Boring Near the End and Having the Same Birthday As Me (24 July since you ask), has arrived. That’s all the celebrities I have for now. I think the third-most famous dude out of Saved By The Bell is here too.
Just got to the brand new @TMobileArena with this sexy chick @AnnaPaquin
— Stephen Moyer (@smoyer) May 8, 2016
Come on Amir!#KhanCanelo pic.twitter.com/D0vGuW4QiL
David Lemieux and Glen Tapia enter the ring, the last fight before the main card. Lemieux is 1-16 favourite but then again we’re contractually obliged to say that Leicester City were 5,000-1 to win the Premier League. And apparently they won. You may have read about it elsewhere.
One more fight to go before Khan v Canelo as Gomez-Herrera comes to an end. Gomez won every single round with all three judges and remains undefeated. An utterly dominant performance.
Gomez and Herrera are coming towards the end of their fight. Gomez has been on top throughout and Herrera has been cut underneath his left eye. In the meantime, the Guardian’s biggest Amir Khan fan, Madhvi Pankhania, has written on why Khan isn’t as loved in his homeland (Bolton excepted) as he is abroad:
Khan and Canelo are in the building! I can report they are strolling through the corridors doing some shadow boxing and doing their best to look relaxed. They both succeed. In more pointless news, while we while away the time Khan is absolutely killing it in the social media stakes. Canelo wins the Instagram followers (953k to 709k) but Khan wins on Twitter (1.67m to 561k) and DESTROYS his opponent on Facebook (3.8m to 1.4m). No news on their MySpace accounts at the time of publication.
.@canelo arrives at @TMobileArena for tonight's fight against @amirkingkhan. #CaneloKhanhttps://t.co/dLdyf28dZ9
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) May 8, 2016
On the undercard, Teixeira-Stevens has just finished. Stevens won by knockout. Here’s what he had to say about his victory:
The name of the game is to knock people out and that’s what I did tonight. I feel great to get back into the game after my one and a half year break. I really want Lemieux, but I will take whatever I can get. My head is right, and I’m ready to take on whoever.
Good evening and welcome to tonight’s live(ish) coverage of Amir Khan’s middleweight showdown against Canelo Alvarez. There’s been the kind of devotion to weight in the build-up to this fight that you’d usually only see on an episode of The Biggest Loser. Khan looked like he’d done a few rounds with the McDonalds menu at the weigh-in (I’m taking him relatively here, he still looks better in a pair of shorts than 99.99999999% of us ever will) while Canelo looked like he could do with a few Big Macs himself. When it comes to the fight though, Canelo is likely to be the significantly heavier man. Here’s our own Kevin Mitchell on the tale of the scale (hey! that rhymes!):
It all boils down to weight, though: will Khan be big and strong enough to hold at bay a fighter whose calling card is as subtle as a bailiff’s?
Álvarez is coming for Khan’s head, no question, and he will take a lot of stopping because of his obvious physical advantages.
At the start of the week Khan weighed 164lbs, and said: “My whole diet and training regime has changed. I honestly believe this could be a very good weight for me. I’m happier making the weight [than for welterweight at 147lbs]. When I get down to 155, I’ll be ripped.” And, at the weigh-in on Friday, so he was: totally reconstructed, almost, from the 135lb teenager who won Olympic silver in 2004. As storm clouds gathered, in wicked metaphor, perhaps, both fighters hit the scales at 155lbs – and the challenger was noticeably bulkier than when at welterweight. When the bell goes on Saturday he will be back to around 164lbs and well aware that Álvarez will weigh closer to 175lbs than 170lbs. There is no rehydration clause. These are the alleged disciplines of a crazy sport. Ideally two fighters would box each other at their most comfortable size and weight, confident they had not stripped away the excess too far or too quickly. But that rarely happens.
You can click here for Kevin’s full preview of the fight:
Updated
