Paulie Malignaggi came out guns blazing this week, blasting Canelo Alvarez for what he suspects will be a cherry-pick opponent on May 4th when he fights on PPV against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
Malignaggi feels that Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) has been ripping off the fans by fighting weak opposition and then putting the matches on pay-per-view. He thinks that he’s been avoiding the top fighters from the 168-lb division, David Benavidez and David Morrell.
We still don’t know who Canelo will be fighting on May 4th, but it’s a good sign that he’s ruled out David Benavidez, Terence Crawford, and Jaime Munguia. He says he’s going to fight an American, and that eliminates Morrell and Christian Mbilli.
Contrary to what Malignaggi says, Canelo has faced some tough opponents in the last three years, facing these fighters:
- Dmitry Bivol
- Jermell Charlo
- Caleb Plant
- John Ryder
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Gennadiy Golovkin
Sanctioning Body Complicity?
“When David Benavidez and David Morrell are in the super-middleweight division, and you have all of those belts, how are the sanctioning bodies going to defend the fact that they will not strip him? What are we doing?” said Paulie Malignaggi on his YouTube channel, complaining about his suspicions that Canelo Alvarez will take a soft touch on May 4th for his next fight.
Canelo the “Thief”
“He [Canelo] is just stealing money essentially if you are going to make gimme matchups, easy fight matchups, avoid all of the top competitors, and take everybody’s money,” said Malignaggi.
Boxing fans are still willing to watch Canelo on PPV because even though he’s not facing guys like Benavidez, Morrell, Artur Beterbiev, or Dmitry Bivol in a rematch, he’s looked good and made it entertaining each time out.
Canelo brings more value to his events than other fighters, and the fact that he’s smaller than his opponents makes it interesting to watch. He’s not Benavidez, who looks like a cruiserweight competing against super middleweights.
“At this point, if you are buying a Canelo fight with this kind of opposition, you deserve to get your money taken; you deserve what you get. He can only pull this off because enough of you people decide this, feed into this and defend it more than anything else,” said Malignaggi.
