By Dan Ambrose: Paulie Malignaggi is furious at Canelo Alvarez for destroying two super-fights by using Jermell Charlo as his plan B option after his originally planned bout against Jermall Charlo fell apart due to his dealing with personal problems.
The two fights that Canelo has destroyed by using the four-belt 154-lb champion Jermell as his substitute opponent for his September 30th contest on Showtime PPV are as follows:
- Jermell Charlo vs. Tim Tszyu
- Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez
When the fight with Jermall went up in smoke, the natural option should have been for Canelo to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against his WBC mandatory David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) because that’s the fight fans want to see.
Boxing fans weren’t demanding Canelo fight the 154-lb champion Jermell, given that he competes two weight classes below him and he’s got his WBO mandatory Tim Tszyu, that has been waiting since last year for his mandated title shot. Fans want to see Charlo vs. Tszyu, and that’s considered a super fight.
Alvarez kills two massive fights
“Canelo Alvarez winds up finding a way to kill two super fights; Not one but two super fights in one shot,” said Malignaggi on Paulie TV. “So we got Canelo Alvarez signs to fight Jermell Charlo, not Jermall Charlo.
Jermall was a guy I always felt was a threat to Canelo a couple of years ago. Coming off a two-year layoff, I wasn’t sure what a threat he would be.
“Nonetheless, he was still the bigger of the Charlo brothers, but Canelo is telling us now he’s fighting Jermell Charlo. So Jermell Charlo is still a top fighter, but unfortunately, you got weight classes in boxing for a reason.
“Remember when weight classes used to exist in boxing, and they mattered? Two full weight classes below is Jermell Charlo, an undisputed champion, an excellent fighter in his weight class, but two full weight classes below.
“They’re going to make this fight, and they’re going to, with a straight face, sell it on pay-per-view, two full weight classes below. Just like that, we already knew we weren’t going to get the super-fight of Canelo vs. David Benavidez.
“Now, we also, on top of that, Jermell Charlo vs. Tim Tszyu also gets taken away from us. Two super fights were killed in one shot. Boxing fans knew these two fights were terrific fights.
“The ones the boxing fans really knew would get their juices going was
Canelo vs. Benavidez and Jermell Charlo vs. Tim Tszyu, even though Tim Tszyu doesn’t have a big presence in the U.S., yet he’s still a known high-level fighter among boxing fans.
“You [Canelo] just managed to kill two big fights in one shot. This is why boxing is a joke. For this fight [Canelo vs. Jermell]. Listen, I’m happy for him [Charlo],” Malignaggi said.
No-lose situation for Jermell
It’s a no lose situation. He goes up two weight classes,” said Paulie. “He loses to a guy who’s two weight classes bigger than him and gets paid a ton of money for it. If he wins, he’s just done something amazing by beating the biggest star in boxing at the moment.
“But boxing fans themselves get screwed again. I was so looking forward to [it]. Listen, I kind of knew Canelo wasn’t going to fight Benavidez anytime soon, if ever, because I was already kind of getting to the point where I was going to accept that part.
“But Jermell Charlo and Tim Tszyu were the ones I was looking forward to. Granted, Jermell is battle-tested at light middleweight, a tough phenomenal world champion at light middleweight, who’s done it the hard way and beaten top guys head-on, one by one by one.
“The weight class keeps producing top-level fighters that he’s got to keep defending against, though. So I was like, ‘Wow, this is another good fight at 154,'” said Malignaggi.
