Boxing News: Floyd Mayweather picks Saul Canelo Alvarez over Amir Khan

Retired undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr is backing a Saul “Canelo” Alvarez win over Amir Khan in their WBC middleweight title bout on May 7, implying that the British fighter would not be able to duplicate Pretty Boy's performance when he defeated Alvarez more than two years ago.

Mayweather, who walked away from boxing with an undefeated record, believes Khan does not have what it takes to defeat a bigger and stronger Alvarez when they face each other on the Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas. Mayweather said he has more experience when he defeated Alvarez in 2013 via majority decision and claimed Khan could not replicate the same result.

“That’s the reason Amir Khan took the fight because he thinks he’s going to be able to do the same thing that I did,” Mayweather told Fight Hype.

“It’s totally different. Canelo, he’s young and he’s very strong and he’s very, very big. But with me, I had so much experience at the top level, and it’s just that I’ve been in there with so many different styles, with so many different strong guys.”

However, according to Dan Ambrose of Boxing News 24, it is not impossible for Khan to duplicate the same game plan Mayweather devised against Alvarez when they met in the ring for a super welterweight title clash. The masterful tactic by Mayweather to opt out of slugging it out with a heavier Alvarez could be as effective for Khan come fight night.

Meanwhile, Khan had to agree to climb from the welterweight class to the full middleweight limit to set up a fight with Alvarez in 2016. This clouds Khan’s chances of stripping Alvarez of his WBC middleweight belt as the British fighter has never fought an opponent as big as the Mexican redhead. But according to British trainer Joe Gallagher, Khan can pull off an upset against Alvarez if the 29-year-old sticks with head trainer Virgil Hunter’s game plan.

“Let’s not forget Alvarez isn’t this huge monster people are making him out to be,” Gallagher told The Bolton News as reported by Boxing Scene. He is a good fighter and has improved but he is not a [Gennady] Golovkin of the world.”