A new face of boxing. A new arena.
Mexican Canelo Alvarez will be asked to carry a card on the sport’s marquee weekend in Las Vegas for the first time tonight, taking on Amir Khan in a middleweight title bout at the sparkling new T-Mobile Arena on the Strip. The 25-year-old Alvarez is expected to become boxing’s biggest draw after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao retired in the past year. He’s off to a good start, and the fight still hasn’t started.
The pro-Canelo crowd inside the 20,000-seat boxing layout at T-Mobile includes fans sporting red headbands with Canelo’s name on it and others in shirts with his picture on the front. Khan supporters are few.
It’s easy to see why some feel Canelo is on his way to becoming the sport’s hottest commodity. That, of course, is until Mayweather and Pacquiao agree to break their retirement to fight each other again, as it was speculated this week.
But tonight, for the first time in more than a decade, isn’t about them. It’s about Canelo.
The Mexico flag — it’s Cinco De Mayo weekend, after all — is everywhere. He’s already a superstar in Mexico, including a lucrative endorsement deal with Tecate. Plus, all the great ones are referred to by one name.
Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) has a five-fight winning streak, losing his only professional bout to Mayweather. He’s a heavy minus-500 favorite (wager $500 to win $100) to beat Khan.
PREDICTION: I’d be crazy to pick against Alvarez. He dominates from start to finish to win on all three judges’ scorecards.
Check back later for more once the fight begins
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
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