Canelo vs Khan 2016: Bout could be more competitive than what people expected – report

The fight between WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Amir Khan could be more competitive than what some boxing fans and pundits expected, following the pair's first sizing up of each other.

Alvarez and Khan started their press tour in London on Monday, with the two fighters standing face-to-face for photographs. Interestingly, Alvarez, who is listed as a 5-foot-9, looked no taller than the 5-foot-8 ½ Khan. According to Dan Ambrose of Boxing News 24, this may suggest that the Bolton welterweight is on par with the Mexican champ in size, which could translate to a more competitive match than the mismatch other people believe is going to take place.

“If Canelo isn’t 5’9” like some people think he is, then his fight against Khan could be a lot more competitive than many people think it’ll be,” Ambrose wrote. “I think Khan may do better than some boxing fans think he’ll do because he’s not going to be facing a bigger guy in terms of height. He’ll likely be fighting someone either the same height as him or a little shorter.”

Ambrose also noted that in two of Khan’s losses, the British fighter was defeated by taller opponents in Breidis Prescott and Lamont Peterson, who are listed as 5-foot-11 and 5-foot-9 respectively. Against a slightly smaller Alvarez, the 30-year-old Khan could control the tempo of the match using his reach advantage, although the Mexican champ has the lead in terms of strength and power.

There were concerns about the sheer advantage of Alvarez in size and strength against Khan when the fight was announced last month, with the latter moving from welterweight to the middleweight division. But after seeing them meet each other eye-to-eye ahead of their fight on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena, Khan looks like he could stand a chance to put up a challenge for the 25-year-old Canelo.

Meanwhile, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya admitted he too was shocked to see Alvarez and Khan standing at almost at the same size. Khan has been bulking up for the 155-catchweight title match against Alvarez, potentially creating a “great fight” for boxing fans.

“I was shocked to see that they are the same size,” De La Hoya said, reports the BBC. "People are in for a great fight.”