Amir Khan Finally Gets His Big Chance Against Canelo

Is the sky the limit for Khan?

He's been waiting and waiting and now Amir Khan finally has his crack at the truly big time. To the shock of pretty much everyone, it was announced this morning that the British welterweight will now be fighting for the lineal middleweight title against none other than bonafide superstar Canelo Alvarez.

Although Khan may at first blush appear to be the perfect foil for the bigger Canelo, he can at least luxuriate in the fact that he has now - finally - found himself in a legitimate mega-bout. For while it's true Canelo's size will most likely give him a clear advantage in the ring against the Englishman no matter which way you slice it, Khan at least now has an opportunity to prove he's ready for prime time.

To be sure, Khan has been in top fights before - Zab Judah and Danny Garcia come immediately to mind - but he has never entered a stage as big as this one. The fact that the recently announced bout quickly became one of the top Twitter trends in the U.S. soon after its announcement should tell people all they need to know here.

Now will come the speculation, the questions of whether or not this is all a bit of sleight of hand to deflect criticism Canelo has received recently for not facing true middleweight monster Gennady Golovkin. Indeed, it's kind of infuriating that a man who is essentially a welterweight may well win the middleweight championship of the world in a bout where the middleweight limit of 160lbs isn't even in play.