Trainer Kevin Cunningham was interviewed by ThaBoxingVoice recently about his fighter Devon Alexander’s possible fight with Britain’s Amir Khan in December.
Alexander is the current IBF Welterweight champion having come through a successful defence against Lee Purdy. Alexander looked very impressive in the bout and came through comfortably against an opponent who shouldn’t really have been fighting for a world title. Purdy is not on the same level as Alexander and struggled to make the weight.
Having come through this fight there are many suggesting that Alexander will face Khan in Dubai this December in what would be a huge fight. When asked about the possibility of the fight Cunningham insisted that nothing is finalised yet. Cunningham also said that he has no problem in the fight taking place in Dubai but that it would take a lot of money for them to go out there and fight. He repeated several times that it would take a lot of money. This could be suggested as a warning sign to Goldenboy promoter Richard Schaefer that they want serious money before on the table before considering the fight.
So it seems as though the fight is more than likely to take place but that a few details still need to be sorted out. One possible issue is the hand injury suffered by Alexander recently. Cunningham seemed to brush this off as being no problem by saying that Devon is currently wearing a brace for 6 weeks and that he would be back in the gym in late July.
The news that Alexander’s hand will be fine is encouraging news and Cunningham also revealed that Alexander will be back to using the punch-bags in August and that he would defiantly be prepared for a fight in December.
The prospect of such a fight between Alexander and Khan is truly exciting. Two quick opponents facing off would be intriguing. Alexander would look to implement his technical ability and stay on the outside whereas one suspects that khan would go back to what comes natural to him and try to trade blows. Khan would instead be much better off using his fantastic hand-speed to implement in and out boxing and stay out of trouble.
So it seems that this fight will take place and I for one am very excited at the prospect.
Cunnigham was also asked about Lucas Matthysse. Matthysse is fresh from a stunning knock-out of Lamont Peterson who Cunnigham had backed to win. Cunnigham went on to say that this performance by Matthysse shows just how good Alexander is and he beat Matt at only 70% of his capabilities. Whether this is true can’t really be said but it raises an interesting point that Matthysse is being labelled as a star of the sport but has lost to Alexander.
Cunnigham was also asked about the seemingly pending Lucas Matthysse v Danny Garcia fight in September to determine who is the best light-welterweight in the world. Cunningham stated that Garcia should look to use more boxing skill than normal if he wanted to be successful in this fight. Both Garcia and Matthysse are big punchers but the edge in power would seem to go to Matthysse.
This would be a fantastic match-up between 2 great boxers looking to establish themselves as the best in their division. Cunningham seemed excited about the possibility of the fight and hoped that it could take place. It truly would be a top quality match and would capture the imagination of the public.
