Who is next for Canelo?

[TitoFan]

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/2...ie-malignaggi/

"David Benavidez will ‘run Canelo Alvarez over like a train’ and I don’t even want to see the fight, says Paulie Malignaggi"

Canelo Alvarez vs David Benavidez is undoubtedly one of the most hotly anticipated fights in boxing right now.

Fans are clambering to see the pair square off for super-middleweight supremacy yet Canelo has shown little urgency in getting the fight over the line.

The Mexican superstar previously suggested he would require an extortionate purse of $200million (£158m) for him to duke it out with 'The Monster'.

Benavidez's promoter Sampson Lewkowicz insisted they did everything to make the fight happen in May, while his client was Canelo's WBC mandatory at 168lbs.

But Canelo chose to face Jaime Munguia on Cinco de Mayo weekend instead.

After growing tired of waiting, Benavidez moved up to light-heavyweight and defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June for the WBC 'interim' trinket.

The victory made him mandatory for the winner of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol's four-belt shootout on October 12.

A clash with Canelo now looks to be out of reach but many members of the boxing fraternity hold out hope.

Former IBF super-lightweight champion Paulie Malignaggi is not one of them though.

"I don't care who Canelo fights if he would vacate the titles," Malignaggi told talkSPORT's talkBOXING podcast.

"Personally, I've been saying this for two years, I think David Benavidez runs him over like a train running over a car that's stuck in the train tracks.

"I stick with that. His apprehension to fight the mandatory continuously only cements my opinion.

"I don't think he's gonna fight Benavidez, the only reason I wanna see him fight Benavidez is for the belts because I don't even think it would be a good fight. I'm more excited about other things than I am about Canelo."

For now, Canelo is set to take on Edgar Berlanga on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Providing he comes through that unscathed a super fight with Terence Crawford remains a possibility.

However, Malignaggi is even less interested in that prospect.

"I'm not crazy about it [the Terence Crawford fight]," he added. "I think Canelo is looking for easy pickings. Easy pickings later in his career.

"The fact he's been allowed to avoid his mandatory for three years is absolutely appalling. The sanctioning bodies should be ashamed of themselves, absolutely disgraceful.

"But I think he would possibly consider Crawford, but he wants a crazy amount of money. Because he sees the kind of money Turki Alalshikh pays, and I think he's trying to take advantage of it which has rightfully offended Turki Alalshikh.

"I'm not crazy about the fight, I think 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 point, you're gonna start to see that.

"The Crawford vs Israil Madrimov fight was right there. I don't understand why there's this talk about Crawford and Canelo. I think if anything that fight right there should tell you he's not able to go up that many more weight classes.

"He really had to test himself in that fight. That fight came down to the last couple of rounds if you ask me.

"Madrimov is good, you have a 154lbs division that is very, very good. I can also see why Crawford would just 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 brands in boxing just fight each other.

"If you fight these young, hungry guys, you're gonna end up being really tested against guys who the world is not gonna give you credit for beating, like Madrimov. That weight class is difficult."

[TIC]

"The fact he's been allowed to avoid his mandatory for three years is absolutely appalling. The sanctioning bodies should be ashamed of themselves, absolutely disgraceful.

sigh