By: Hans Themistode
Canelo Alvarez is currently enjoying the views from the top of his pugilistic sport.
Over the course of his career, his lofty placement on virtually pound-for-pound list has been earned through arduous contests against some of the best name’s the sport of boxing has to offer.
Presently, the Mexican native would likely be favored against anyone from 160 pounds to arguably, the cruiserweight division. Still, despite Alvarez being considered an almost indomitable force in the ring, former two-division champion, Paulie Malignaggi, has a hunch as to who can and will defeat him.
“Jermall Charlo is one of the guys I can see beating Canelo,” said Malignaggi on Paulie TV. “He’s just super, super, sharp man. When Jermall is on he’s super, super sharp. Countering, he’s got power. He’s a good fighter.”
As first reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, both team Alvarez and Charlo are locked in intense negotiations with both sides nearing a deal for a showdown that would take place on Cinco De Mayo later on this year.
Houston’s Charlo, 31, has enjoyed a long and successful run at 160 pounds. Although he currently campaigns one weight class beneath Alvarez, Charlo has stated time and time again that he would be willing to drop his WBC middleweight title in order to face Alvarez at 168 pounds.
Though the pair have yet to finalize a deal officially, a showdown against Charlo would mark a complete 180 in terms of Alvarez’s original plans.
Following an 11th round stoppage victory over Caleb Plant on November 6th, 2021, Alvarez nabbed the final piece of the super middleweight puzzle. With the win, the Mexican product became the first undisputed 168 pound champion of all time.
With a plethora of options at his disposal, Eddy Reynoso, trainer and manager of Alvarez, petitioned to the WBC sanctioning body to allow his pound-for-pound stalwart to move up in weight to take on WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu. Shortly following his request, Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the sanctioning body, accepted Reynoso’s request.
Nevertheless, with Alvarez seemingly heading in another direction, Malignaggi believes that Charlo presents an entirely different set of problems for the newly crowned undisputed titlist.
Should Alvarez not only face Charlo but ultimately beat him, Malignaggi reveals that Alvarez will have earned all of his respect.
“I’ve been the one saying you know what, Jermall and [Demetrius] Andrade, although Andrade I feel right now is passing his prime and is not as much of a threat as he was before to Canelo but I felt like Jemall is a major threat. Big, big, props to Canelo. This was the guy I was picking to beat him if they had fought. I’m going to give Canelo even bigger props if he beats Charlo. I picked Jermall to beat Canelo and I gotta stick with my original guns.”