Ni Gilbert Espeña

Para kay six-division world champion Oscar dela Hoya, posibleng paghugutan ng inspirasyon ni Briton boxing star Amir Khan si Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao sa kanyang pagtatangkang pantayan ang kasaysayan ng Pinoy champ.

Tulad ni Khan, umakyat din ng dalawang dibisyon si Pacman para maitarak ang 8-round TKO panalo kay Dela Hoya noong Disyembre 6, 2008 sa Las Vegas.

Sa panayam ng Fightnews.com, iginiit ni Dela Hoya na hindi dehado si Khan sa pag-akyat din ng dalawang dibisyon upang hamunin si WBC at Ring Magazine middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez ng Mexico sa catch weight na 155 lbs. sa Mayo 7, 2016 sa T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.

“I’m very happy to have made this announcement, I promised that I will make the best fights for the public, for the fans and this is a huge fight, Canelo and Khan are great champions and they will give their all on May 7th,” pahayag ni De La Hoya, pangulo ng Golden Boy Promotions na may hawak kay Khan.

“Canelo is strong and is the champion and Khan is a very fast fighter that can give Canelo problems, speed is a huge factor and Amir will push Canelo to be faster than ever and to train hard, we know that Khan is a warrior and that Canelo is a warrior, this makes for a great fight.”

Inihambing ni De La Hoya ang sitwasyon sa kanilang paghaharap ni Pacquiao na noo’y maraming nagsabing dehado dahil mas maliit ang kaha ni Pacman. Ngunit, ang lahat ay kasaysayan na lamang.

“When we were making this fight, it came to my mind when I fought Pacquiao, people were saying that Pacquiao was too small for me, that I would beat him easy, that Pacquiao had no chance and many more things,” diin ni De La Hoya.

“The critics were labeling my fight with Manny as a mismatch and you saw what happened, Pacquiao destroyed me, so I know Canelo has to be at 100 percent, Khan is a tall fighter, he is a big guy so I don’t think the weight will be a factor.”