BoxingScene’s Midweek Mailbag: Canelo Alvarez vs. Chris Eubank Jr.; time for Prograis and Hatton to retire

In this week’s mailbag, we tackle your thoughts on two potential fights (Canelo Alvarez vs. Chris Eubank Jr. and Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev) and on two fighters you feel should retire (Regis Prograis and Campbell Hatton).

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.

NOT THRILLED AT THE THOUGHT OF CANELO VS. CHRIS EUBANK JR.

Canelo has earned the right to fight who he wants at this point (“Talks restart about Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Chris Eubank Jr.”), and that’s cool if you wanna take the fights where you’re gonna be paid big money. But vacate the belts — because the 168-pound division is so stagnant and all these guys seem to just want to sit around and hopefully get picked by Canelo.

Canelo can face Eubank, Jermall Charlo and David Benavidez, and then I think Canelo should retire.

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David Greisman’s response: You really got to the heart of the matter here. Canelo wants to have complete control of his career, even if that means selecting opponents who go over like a fart in church. And he also wants to be seen as the best super middleweight in the world. Which he still is. But being the best comes with a responsibility to take on your top contenders.

The Eubank Jr. fight isn’t official, but it’s definitely an idea that keeps coming up in the news. That’s no surprise. Canelo may be on the “retirement tour” phase of his career where he’s focusing more on money. Heading to London to headline in a massive arena against an opponent the level of Eubank would pad his bank account while giving him the memorable experience of performing in front of the U.K. crowd.

There are plenty of fans, be it in the U.K. or in the U.S., who are willing to pay to watch Canelo no matter the opponent. It’s why he continues to be able to rake in big paychecks in recent years even while many were calling for him to face the likes of David Benavidez and David Morrell.

It’s no wonder that Top Rank, which co-promotes Christian Mbilli, wants the Canelo fight but doesn’t want to press for it and potentially lose out on the opportunity. Mbilli is rated No. 1 at 168 by the WBC and No. 1 by the WBA (though behind interim titleholder Caleb Plant’s place in line).

“If Canelo wants to fight [Mbilli], we’ll make him available so that Canelo can fight him,” Bob Arum of Top Rank recently told boxing reporter Dan Rafael. “But I’m not going to push the mandatory to force Canelo to do anything. Because all that’ll do is bad blood and, you know, it would accomplish nothing.” 

WE CAN STILL GET NAOYA INOUE VS. MURODJON AKHMADALIEV 

If this (“Murodjon Akhmadaliev tops doubleheader in Monte Carlo”) is what makes MJ take a stay-busy fight, then sure, why not. It also keeps the April match [potentially against Naoya Inoue] possible. I give up on MJ if he gets injured or god forbid loses to Ricardo Espinoza Franco — not worth it at that point.

-Elheath

David Greisman’s response: This feels like a reasonable compromise given the situation at junior featherweight.

Akhmadaliev is the WBA’s mandatory challenger to undisputed champion Naoya Inoue. He and his team have been lobbying for the title shot, and his attorney indicated they would resort to legal action, if necessary, to ensure that the WBA enforces Akhmadaliev’s position.

Inoue, meanwhile, has another mandatory challenger in Sam Goodman, a fight that was ordered by the IBF. Inoue vs. Goodman was recently announced for December 24. That will give Inoue three fights in the 2024 calendar year and four ring appearances over the course of about 365 days.

Inoue’s co-promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, said it would be unwise for Akhmadaliev to do anything that would cause “The Monster” to be stripped of his WBA title. That would potentially lead to Akhmadaliev fighting someone else for the vacant belt and earning far less money than he would earn against Inoue, Arum said.

So now both Inoue and Akhmadaliev have fights coming up. Akhmadaliev gets to shake some rust off, getting back in the ring for the first time in almost exactly a year. He will face Franco for the interim WBA world title on December 14. As silly as that is to have an interim title while the champion is actively fighting, I think I (for once) understand what the WBA is doing. They’re placating Akhmadaliev with this belt — especially as, if Inoue for some reason doesn’t fight Akhmadaliev next, then Akhmadaliev will automatically be upgraded instead of needing to jump over another hurdle.

Ten days after Akhmadaeliv-Franco, Inoue will face Goodman. And Top Rank is hoping to bring Inoue to Las Vegas in April 2025. Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev would be ideal for that date. The plan, if Inoue wins, would then be to bring Inoue back to Japan, potentially for a super-fight with bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani.

AFTER LOSS TO JACK CATTERALL, TIME FOR REGIS PROGRAIS TO RETIRE

Regis Prograis is a ruined fighter now. Both his reflexes and reaction time are a split second slower now. He has been dropped a total of four times in his past three previous fights and has had trouble getting his punches off, which are telltale signs of an aging fighter.

Moreover, he injured both his ankle and knee in this fight, and he even admitted that he got tired and winded in those championship rounds. In this case, I must err on the side of caution for both his well-being and the sake of his health by saying that it is time for Prograis to retire. He doesn’t have to be a gatekeeper for these young, up-and-coming fighters.

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David Greisman’s response: On the one hand, Regis Prograis has lost to three good fighters: Josh Taylor, Devin Haney and Jack Catterall. On the other hand, those losses show that Prograis can’t succeed at the highest level.

Prograis has gone back and forth with his decision in the few days since being defeated by Catterall. He’s mentioned retiring from traditional boxing and taking up bare-knuckle fights. And he’s since said that he’ll go on. He’s mentioned a potential move to welterweight.

If he’s going to return, that’s going to mean diminishing returns.

Prograis could still be selected as a name to help younger fighters, well, make their own name. He could serve as the B-side gatekeeper and may even score the occasional upset. The junior welterweight division is packed and there could be many opportunities. The welterweight division is much shallower but has some second- and third-tier fighters who might need opponents.

That doesn’t mean these opportunities, and those paydays, are worth it.

There’s a big difference between the money Prograis has received in recent years and what he’d earn from here on out. He’ll need to decide whether the lesser reward is worth the increased risk, given his declining physical abilities.

Too many fighters often stay around too long. For Prograis, he can justify himself fighting on given who he’s lost to. It may take him losing to someone he never would’ve lost to before for Prograis to realize his time is up. I think about what Mike Tyson said after quitting against Kevin McBride — which was my first live fight as a boxing writer.

“I just don’t have this in my gut anymore,” Tyson said at the post-fight press conference. “It’s just not in my heart anymore. I’m not trying to take anything away from Kevin McBride. We know his record, we know his credentials, and if I can’t beat him, I can’t beat [former 122-pound titlist] Junior Jones.”

TIME TO CLOSE THE BOOK ON CAMPBELL HATTON AFTER SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS

Campell Hatton has no real future anyway (“Jimmy Joe Flint doubles Campbell Hatton’s agony to threaten Hatton’s future”). He’s nothing but a journeyman with a famous father.

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David Greisman’s response: Sometimes cliches are grounded in truth. But when it comes to professional sports, it’s hard to agree that the apple doesn’t fall from the tree.

Sure, there are plenty of famous examples where the talent of the child is similar to that of their parent: NFL quarterback Archie Manning and sons Eli and Peyton; baseball players Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr., Bobby and Barry Bonds; hockey players Bobby and Brett Hull. Boxing has of course had Leon and Cory Spinks, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. clearly surpassing his namesake father and his uncles Roger and Jeff.

But more often we get fighters whose talent level can’t even compare to that, say, of basketball player Bronny James. For every Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. who at least won a world title, we’ve seen guys like Hector Camacho Jr.; Stephan Pryor and Aaron Pryor Jr.; Ronald Hearns; Nico Ali Walsh (who, in case you somehow missed the million mentions on ESPN, is Muhammad Ali’s grandson); and Campbell Hatton.

It was always going to be difficult for the children to try to follow in their famed family members’ footsteps. We can get annoyed at the fact they are receiving airtime and attention that would be better invested in other prospects and contenders who are more likely to succeed in the sweet science. 

Then again, we the viewers are enabling the promoters, manager and networks. We tune in out of curiosity, the same way that we’ve propped up Jake Paul’s foray into the sport.

I also can’t blame the fighters for trying to earn some bucks, or some pounds, even if it comes at the expense of some poundings. Given his two consecutive decision loses to James Flint, Campbell Hatton may very well have reached his ceiling, far lower than the heights that his father achieved. 

Indeed, as the song said: There’s only one Ricky Hatton.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.