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Paulie Malignaggi has called on Canelo Alvarez to vacate his super middleweight titles.
Malignaggi made the comments after Canelo chose not to box his then-WBC mandatory David Benavidez. Canelo was undisputed then but chose to vacate his IBF belt after being ordered to face William Scull. He now has the WBA, WBC and WBO belts, which he will defend against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 during Mexican Independence Weekend.
The fight has received mass criticism since a Benavidez fight would have gone down well on the date to decide the best Mexican of this era. Benavidez will now box at 175, ending hopes of that fight.
There are other alternatives Canelo could have taken instead to reduce the criticism towards him. There are fights with Christian Mbilli and David Morrell Jr.
Canelo’s Future
Mbilli is 28-0, with 23 KOs and has come off a win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Before this fight, he called out Canelo and expressed his desire to face the best after beating Derevyanchenko. Morrell Jr. is also another option. The Cuban is a knockout artist with an 11-0 record and nine KOs. The failure to face big names is seen as holding up the division, leaving Malignaggi unhappy.
“I don’t care who Canelo fights if he would vacate his [168-lb] titles. I’ve been saying this for two years. I think Benavidez runs him over like a train, like a car stuck on the train tracks. His [Canelo] apprehension to fight his mandatory continuously only further cements my opinion of that. I don’t think he’s going to fight Benavidez. The only reason I want him to fight Benavidez is for the belts because I don’t even think it would be a good fight,” Malignaggi said
Malignaggi was also critical of a potential Terence Crawford fight. Crawford has been chasing Canelo for some time, even calling him out after his win over Israil Madrimov. The win made Bud the WBA champion at 154 in his first fight at the weight class. However, Crawford’s punch power at the weight class was not what it was at 147 when he stopped all his opponents.
Canelo Vs. Crawford
Madrimov also tagged Crawford numerous times, landing more power punches. There is a feeling that Crawford would bite off more than he can chew if he moved up to 168. Jermell Charlo did the same, coming up from 154 to face Alvarez last year. He was not the same fighter as Canelo, who won a comfortable unanimous decision. Malignaggi felt Canelo was simply looking for bigger paydays.
“I’m not crazy about it. Canelo is looking for easy pickings for later in his career..I think he would possibly consider Crawford, but he wants a crazy amount of money. He [Canelo] sees the kind of money Turki Alalshikh pays, and he’s trying to take advantage of it, which rightfully offended Turki Alalshikh. I’m not crazy about it. Weight classes exist for a reason. Crawford has been amazing. His talent has been something that has overcome the weight class deficit, but at a certain, you start to see that,” Malignaggi stated
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