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Amir Khan ready to make history against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez

Amir Khan said he will be ready for everything Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez throws at him in Las Vegas.

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Amir Khan views his surprise fight with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez for the WBC middleweight title as "time to make history".

The 29-year-old Englishman raised eyebrows on Tuesday by announcing that he will step up from welterweight to take on the talented Mexican in Las Vegas on May 7.

The bout will take place at a catchweight of 155lbs according to Khan - five pounds below the official middleweight limit.

Alvarez beat Miguel Cotto by a unanimous decision last November to take the middleweight title and the dangerous 25-year-old's only defeat in 48 professional contests was against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013.

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But Khan, who boasts a record of 31 wins and three losses, is relishing the challenge of stepping into the ring at the MGM Grand's new T-Mobile Arena.

He told Sky Sports News: "It's going to be the first fight there [at the T-Mobile Arena] and I'm looking forward to it, because it is something new and it's time to make history.

"To move up a weight or two and fight a world champion, someone that everyone is going to say is going to walk through Amir Khan.

"I really believe that I have the chance to beat him and by beating someone like Alvarez it will definitely make me one of the best fighters in the world.

"When Mayweather fought Alvarez he got him down to 152lbs - a weight where he was struggling to make the fight weight - so the weight we are fighting at is giving him a couple of more pounds to feel comfortable.

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"He is going to be a little bit stronger going into this fight against me, but watching how Floyd Mayweather beat him; Floyd boxed him, was smart and he moved well - he wasn't standing there with him.

"Obviously I am going to pick a few things out of that fight. Alvarez looked really good in that fight, he was sharper, he was quicker. I have the hand speed, I have the great footwork so we know what to do.

"We are going to have a great gameplan. Virgil Hunter [Khan's trainer] here in San Francisco, we are going to set a gameplan to go into the fight and we are going to go in there and execute it.

"Obviously it is going to be a tough fight and we know it is going to be hard. It is not going to be easy and I have to be switched on. I can't take my eye off Alvarez. He is a big guy, a big puncher as well, so we have to be on our A game.

"But whatever he brings to the table, I am going to have an answer for."

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