Boxing pod host Paulie Malignaggi says Canelo Alvarez is taking advantage of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh by asking for a lot of money to fight Terence Crawford. Malignaggi views that as a situation where Canelo is attempting to exploit the money that Turki is paying for fights.
Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has repeatedly said he’s not interested in fighting Crawford and doesn’t see any point in facing a pumped-up welterweight just looking for retirement money in a fantasy-level fight.
“I’m not crazy about it. Canelo is looking for easy pickings for later in his career,” said Paulie Malignaggi to talkSport Boxing YouTube channel about his thoughts on Terence Crawford potentially moving up two weight classes to fight Canelo Alvarez if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh can negotiate the fantasy fight.
“The fact that he’s [Canelo] been able to avoid a mandatory for three years is absolutely appalling. The sanctioning bodies [WBC] should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. It’s a disgrace. I think he would possibly consider Crawford, but he wants a crazy amount of money,” said Malignaggi.
Boxing has changed. The sanctioning bodies have no power over popular fighters, and if they try and order them around, they’ll see their belts vacated, and they’ll be stuck with a less popular fighter picking up their belts. Canelo would vacate the WBC title if they tried to order him to defend it.
It likely won’t be long before a single governing body replaces the four sanctioning bodies. The sooner it happens, the better off it will be for fans.
“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,” said Malignaggi.
Canelo isn’t trying to take advantage of Turki. His high price tag is his way of saying he’s not interested in the Crawford fight because it’s one where he won’t receive credit for beating a smaller, older fighter who looked like a trainwreck in his last fight against Madrimov. Canelo knows he’ll be criticized for fighting Crawford and dumped on by fans, no matter how his fight ends.
The Easy Way Out
“Listen, the Crawford-Madrimov fight was right there [very close]. I don’t understand why there’s been this talk about Crawford and Canelo. I think, if anything, that fight [Crawford vs. Madrimov] right there showed that he’s probably not able to go up many more weight classes. He really had to test himself in that fight,” said Malignaggi.
People are talking about Canelo-Crawford because Crawford has been campaigning for that fight, and Turki wants to set it up for him. He likes Crawford, even though he’s not a draw and never has been in the U.S. If Crawford piped down and focused on the fighters that are in front of him at 154 instead of being a glutton, no one would be bringing up Canelo. But he wants that big payday before he retires, and he knows if he keeps fighting at 154, he’ll lose.
“That fight came down to the last couple of rounds if you ask me. Madrimov is good. You have a 154-pound weight division that is very, very good. I can see why Crawford would want to take on Canelo because Canelo is like him. He’s made a lot of money already, and it’s sort of like a Hollywood type of fight where big names and big brands in the division with boxing fight each other,” said Malignaggi.
The Fear of Losing
Crawford came close to losing to Madrimov, and he knows now that he’s not the same fighter at 154 that he was at 147, 140, and 135. He had the benefit of fighting a lot of lackluster fighters in those weight classes, and things would be different at 154.
The fighters in this division are much better fighters than the guys Crawford fought during his career, and he could lose many times if he tried to go through the top guys. Even one defeat would permanently wreck Crawford’s dream of fighting Canelo, but he could many times if he fought the best. I could see Crawford losing a rematch with Madrimov and then getting beaten by Sebastian Fundora or Vergil Ortiz.
“If you [Crawford] fight these young, hungry guys, you’re going to end up being really tested against guys that the world isn’t going to give you credit for beating, like a Madrimov. That weight class is difficult,” said Malignaggi.
Crawford’s preference to fight Canelo isn’t just because he won’t receive credit for beating fighters at 154. He’ll receive tons of credit for beating all the top guys at 154. The problem is he just wants to make a killing with the mist money all it once.
His close-call win over Madrimov showed that he will get beaten sooner or later if he chooses to fight the killers at 154. Crawford is no longer hungry at this point in his career. He’s rich and not interested in facing many tough guys who are at the top of their game and better than anyone he’s ever fought during his 16-year career.
It may not happen in his next fight if he chooses wisely, but it might. If he’s barely beating Madrimov, you can only imagine what will happen if Crawford fights these guys:
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Vergil Ortiz Jr
– Tim Tszyu
– Sebastian Fundora
Given that Crawford fights only once a year, it would take him four years to fight those fighters, and he’d be 41-years-old by the time he got them out of the way. He’s not beating all of those guys at that age, and would likely lose to some or all right now.
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