What If Khan Beats Canelo?

If you're like most fight fans, you take it as a matter of fact that Canelo Alvarez is pretty much going to walk down Amir Khan this May and turn him into a punching bag. It's easy to understand why. Canelo fights a significant number of pounds higher than Khan has up until now. What's more, Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya seems a bit skittish about having his man face GGG. It only stands to reason fans would therefore suspect that Oscar would match his star carefully against other opponents, as well.

What many of us are forgetting, however, is that Khan is an exceedingly skilled fighter. He unquestionably has his weaknesses, but Khan's ability in the ring is nothing short of impressive when he's at his best. It might also be worth keeping in mind that although Canelo may be popular, popularity does not go hand in hand with great ability. In other words, the man hasn't really shown signs of greatness in the ring - at least not yet.

Of course, there's also the small fact that boxing plays its favorites and it may be hard to imagine Canelo ever losing to Khan on the judge's scorecards in Vegas. Since Khan likely can't knock Canelo out at 155, it simply might not seem likely that he can walk away with the win under any circumstances.

Unless, of course, he really takes Canelo to school, like Mayweather did. No, Scratch that. Canelo still got a draw from one of the judges after Floyd made an easy night of him. Khan might have to do an even BETTER job than Floyd did against Canelo if he were to somehow even hope to move the judge's needle in his favor.

What if he were to do that, though? What if Khan were to surprise the world by fighting Canelo so efficiently that the judges absolutely, positively could NOT rule against him out of fear of getting the CJ Ross treatment? What if, in an even greater surprise, Khan were simply to get the better of Canelo and the judges ruled fairly?

Hey, it's not ENTIRELY out of the realm of possibility, is it?

So, what happens if Khan finds himself being the toast of the fight world? Well, for one thing, Khan would have gone from laughing stock to hero in the amount of time it takes to go through hedge fund money on a boxing series. The world would surely be his.

What would he do, though? Rematch Canelo? Go back down to welterweight? What if he were to stay at middleweight? Would he keep GGG at bay? Some would argue Khan is fine with keeping big fights from happening if they don't suit him. Just ask Kell Brook supporters. Will a new mega-bout be in order (between Khan and GGG) or will a planned mega bout (between Canelo and GGG) simply have died because of Canelo's insistence on marinating things to death, in the process leaving fans with nothing?

I find these questions fascinating. I may be getting ahead of myself here, of course. Then again...