Whether Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is following the Saudi Arabia riches by making career moves toward a showdown with possible fellow four-division and undisputed champion Terence Crawford is yet to be confirmed.
But the idea alone stirred a series of strong opinions Wednesday on ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters.”
A day after BoxingScene reported that boxing officials are planning for Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) to relinquish his IBF super middleweight belt instead of meeting lightly regarded William Scull of Cuba, the discussion turned to the possibility that current welterweight champion Crawford is the target.
“You could go with the [other] sanctioning body [WBC] mandatory and make the [David] Benavidez fight or go make this fantasy fight,” cracked analyst Paulie Malignaggi, who has long chided Alvarez for balking at meeting his most talented opponent, Benavidez, the unbeaten former super middleweight champion from Phoenix.
Malignaggi called this one of the rare “cons” of having Turki Alalshikh in the fight-making business, and said it potentially “jams the wheels of boxing” and the way these divisions should play out, with Crawford (40-0) headed to a WBA junior middleweight title fight in his 154-pound debut against champion Israil Madrimov Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
“Having a guy with this much money making these fights – it’s a little casual,” Malignaggi said. “If this was the ‘80s, he’s making Tyson versus Sugar Ray Leonard.”
Panelist Chris Algieri, the former 140-pound world titleholder, agreed that Alalshikh should choose to invest in the better fight.
“If you want to put money behind a fight, make that [Benavidez] fight,” Algieri said. “We don’t need to make these fantasy superfights [when] there’s still good fights for Terence Crawford,” including the wealth of talented 154-pounders such as two-belt champion Sebastian Fundora, former champion Tim Tszyu and Tszyu’s Aug. 3 opponent, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (21-0, 21 KOs).
“You don’t make stars this way,” Malignaggi said.
Bradley rejected his colleagues’ positions and said the gifted, longtime pound-for-pound elite Crawford has plotted this Canelo bout “for a very long time.
“I recognized [Crawford’s] greatness early on,” Bradley said. “When Terence sees something, you have to pay attention. Am I scared for Crawford? A little bit. But I’m not going to say I don’t want to see the fight. This is Terence wanting to be great. Terence wants to be great. This is how he can become pound-for-pound No. 1.
“I like the fight. You guys will be surprised.”
Nevertheless, Algieri said he remains doubtful the sportsman in Alvarez will allow him to take the Crawford fight. Alvarez has previously called a Crawford bout a “no-win” scenario because he either gets the victory against a fighter who operated three divisions below him last year or loses to the naturally lighter man.
“If Canelo takes this fight, relinquish all your belts,” Algieri said.
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