Tuesday 12 April 2016 22:14, UK
Amir Khan's trainer Virgil Hunter has admitted that he was reluctant to approve the British fighter's bout with Saul Alvarez on May 7.
Khan (31-3 KO19) will fight above welterweight for the first time in his career when he challenges the formidable Mexican (46-1-1 KO32) for his WBC middleweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The former WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion will be the significant underdog, largely because he is expected to be the far smaller man.
Hunter, who had initial reservations over the bout, was eventually convinced by Khan that the fight was winnable and it was his reading of the match-up that inspired the American to allow the fight to proceed.
"It was Shah (Khan, Amir's father) who came to me, and initially I wasn't for the fight, but I hadn't seen Amir yet," Hunter said.
"I wasn't for the fight: what changed my outlook on it was Amir's response to me when I asked him why did he want this fight and his response to me was quite assuring that he understood what he was going up against and what he was getting into.
"Off of that, I felt much more confident in his ability to be competitive, and win the fight. He understood what he could and could not do."
He added: "I don't view Amir as an underdog in this fight. I'm very confident in his abilities, otherwise I'd be doing him a disservice if I viewed him as an underdog. No, I view him as the top dog.
"That's how we're approaching the fight, we're not approaching the fight hoping to get victory, hoping that it goes our way: it's a determination to get victory and to make it go our way."
