By: Sean Crose
Say it ain’t so!
Canelo Alvarez, perhaps the most popular and serious minded practitioner in all of boxing appears to be willing to some day face social media star turned boxer Jake Paul – maybe. “We don’t know,” he told FightHype, “you can never say never.” Before every serious boxing fan on earth has a conniption, however, things should be put in perspective. Canelo added to FightHype that Paul would have to do “a lot of things” before he’d step in the ring with brash American. What that essentially means is Paul would actually have to start fighting like a person who might possibly be able to step into the ring with Canelo without embarrassing himself.
At the moment, Canelo is preparing for a major fight against fellow super middleweight titlist Caleb Plant. Their November match, one of the biggest fights of the year, bar none, is bringing a lot of bad blood with it, which is rare for a fight involving the normally subdued Canelo. One could only imagine how the obnoxious Paul might make the future Hall of Famer’s blood boil. That might actually prove to be an instance where getting inside an opponent’s head is a bad thing.
Paul, after all, had more than his gloved hands full when he took on former UFC great Tyrone Woodley in his last bout. Although Paul deserved the decision nod he received, Woodley was not easy pickings at all. To make matters even more telling, Paul seemed rather gassed as the fight went on. With just a handful of bouts to his credit – none against professional boxers – Paul had been used to laying his opponents out. Against the determined Woodley, Paul actually had to buckle down and grind his way to a victory. Sure enough, there’s talk of the two men having a rematch.
Not that Paul is a terrible fighter. The guy is right when he points out his competition is pretty much on par with that of most boxers just starting out. No one just starting out, however, is qualified to face the legitimately great Canelo in the prize ring. The man can hurt people – and all the showmanship in the world won’t be able to save Paul in a professional fight. With that in mind, Canelo is smart enough to know that stranger things than Paul developing his talent (yes he has it) have happened. Who knows? Maybe Canelo-Paul will someday be a legitimate superfight.
Then again….