Amir Khan isn’t enamored by the potential hurdles his former opponent and one-time stablemate Terence Crawford would face in a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
In the wake of his brutal beatdown of Errol Spence Jr. in the summer, Omaha, Nebraska’s Crawford, the undisputed welterweight champion, has made it clear the fighter he wants to trade punches with next the most is Mexico’s Alvarez, the undisputed champion at 168. (Crawford, of course, is contractually obligated to follow through with an immediate rematch with Spence).
A matchup between two of the top fighters in the sport is far from a given, as the physical reality is that they fight in weight classes 21 pounds apart from one another. Alvarez has rejected any calls for a catchweight. From a business perspective, there is a degree of optimism, as both fighters are aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.
Khan, the recently retired 140-pound titlist from Bolton, England, made a case for Crawford to steer clear of Alvarez, saying the weight gap would simply present too many risks for “Bud.”
Khan has the distinction of having fought Crawford and Alvarez, although he came up short against both fighters.
Khan was knocked out by Alvarez in six rounds in their junior middleweight bout in 2016; he was stopped by Crawford in the same round in their welterweight bout in 2019.
“I just feel like in boxing weight divisions, they make them for a purpose,” Khan told FightHubTV. “And I highly respect and say that pound-for-pound the best fighter is Crawford, by far, he beats anyone. But when you start putting on weight and go up in weight and you fight these guys like Canelo, even though Canelo might now be slowing down, he’s still going to be very dangerous. That punching power, you’re still going to get tagged, you’re gonna get hit.
“You still have to spar heavier guys to get ready for that, anyway, so you’re going to be taking on that wear and tear anyway. …Does he need to put that pressure on himself? He’s done what no one’s ever done before, two-time undisputed champion. So why not just enjoy it?”
“But obviously you want to go on to the next challenge,” Khan continued. “For him he wants to go to Canelo. I would advise him not to go for that. But he knows how good he is. I can’t really say to him do this or do that.”
“We all might be wrong. He might be stronger than Canelo. He might put on the weight well and he might do really well in there. Why does he need to give up that much weight? He’s pound for pound in the world. Why does he have to go up and fight Canelo? It doesn’t prove anything.”
Khan said in the event that Crawford manages to lure Alvarez into the ring he would willingly lend a hand to his former stablemate.
“If he believes in himself, yes, go for it (Canelo fight),” Khan said. “But don’t do it if he’s got second thoughts. I’ll go and help him [with] that if I have to. Because, look, I love Crawford, I think he’s a lovely guy because I got to know him when I trained with him, away from the boxing ring. The guy’s a diamond, so if I could help him in any way, I’d love to do that. But look if I was him, just enjoy, enjoy what you got now. Don’t take no risks.”
