Canelo Alvarez vs Amir Khan set for May 7, but what about Golovkin?

Amir Khan (left) will fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (right) in Las Vegas on May 7. (Photo Collage: Esther Lin/Will Hart)

The first weekend in May has traditionally been huge for boxing, with Floyd Mayweather occupying that spot since 2012. With Money retired, there were doors open for marquee bouts to take his spot.  Canelo Alvarez looks to fill that void, when he defends his Middleweight Championship against Amir Khan on HBO PPV, May 7.

Khan has been holding out for big money fights for the better part of two years now. He missed out on Mayweather fights three times and Pacquiao fights twice. This time, he moves up in weight to challenge Alvarez.

Khan (31-3, 19 KOs), 29, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, won a junior welterweight world title in 2009 and made five successful defenses, including unifying two 140-pound belts. Since back-to-back losses, a controversial decision to Lamont Peterson in 2013 and a knockout loss to Danny Garcia in 2014, Khan has won five fights in a row but been relatively inactive with only one bout in 2013 and one in 2015. For the title at a 155 lbs catch weight, this fight with Alvarez will present so many challenges. If Garcia knocked out Khan at 144 lbs, what does he think will happen at 155.

Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs), 25, a former unified junior middleweight titleholder, has won four fights in a row since a one-sided decision loss to Mayweather in their September 2013 blockbuster. Alvarez certainly needs a marquee win after defeating Miguel Cotto in November. He was pushed to the limit against Erislandy Lara in July 2014 before rebounding in his last two bouts. Khan needs a bout against one of boxing’s biggest stars after not fighting since last May, a unanimous decision win over Chris Algieri.

It’s pretty much safe to say, if Alvarez wins, he will fight Gennady Golovkin next. Golovkin is the top contender for Alvarez’s WBC title. The WBC previously said Alvarez would have to vacate his 160-pound title if he couldn’t agree to a fight with Golovkin within the standard negotiating period. A bout between the popular Alvarez and Golovkin, one of the most dangerous punchers in all of boxing, should easily be the biggest fight of 2016, and the biggest hype machine since Pacquiao vs Mayweather.

I’ll watch the May 7 bout, but i’m really interested in a possible fall bout between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, to re-energize boxing.