By Miguel Angel Cebreros, notifight.com

Saul 'Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs) is taking no shortcuts in his ongoing training camp for the upcoming defense of the WBC middleweight championship.

Canelo will defend the belt against former champion Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The fight is happening at a catch-weight of 155-pounds, with Khan moving up by eight-pounds to challenge Canelo for his world title.

The fight has generated a lot of fans and a lot of critics. The critics believe Khan is too small, with Canelo holding most of the advantages in the contest - including size, strength and power. This will also be Khan's first fight in a year, with his last bout being a twelve round decision win over former WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri.

"I think people will always criticize. I stay focused on my training. I'm not going to focus on whether or not the weight is greater or less. I always focus on my training and get into the ring to win," Canelo said.

"He is a good fighter who is supported by an entire country. He is one of the best right now. He's had many good fights, he has experience. When I was told that he had already signed the contract, it was also a surprise for me - but we are ready to face a difficult style like Amir Khan."

"[Opponents with Khan's styles] are difficult fighters that can complicate things a lot during a fight, and I'm training for that because he will be very difficult. Amir Khan is very fast, but not only speed is needed - precision is also needed, experience to know when to hit. There are many things that you can do to counter his speed, and we will work on that. I'm always training and prepared to go twelve rounds, but if the knockout comes then so be it."