Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez prides himself on having taken on all-comers during his 65-fight campaign.
The Mexican has won world titles in four weight classes and is currently undefeated in the super-middleweight division having been undisputed champion but recently losing one belt for a failure to face his mandatory.
In fact, Canelo has only come up short twice so far in his career – once to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 at a 152 pound catchweight and then to Dmitry Bivol in 2021 at light-heavyweight.
Bivol upset the odds with a masterful display, keeping hold of his title by outboxing and outpointing Canelo. Post-fight, Canelo called for a rematch but discussions fell apart when he wanted it at 175 again whereas Bivol, interested only in belts and legacy, wanted to move down to 168 and become the challenger.
Speaking on Pro Box TV, former world champion Paulie Malignaggi said the claim on Canelo’s part was a straight lie.
“I think for him to be able to say something so ridiculous that he knows he’s lying, he’s lying right through his teeth. I’d love to see it so I’d love to be proven wrong – go make the Bivol fight, I’ll be the first one to clap for you. Like I said two years ago he’s not gonna make the Benavidez fight, I’ll say it right now that he’s not gonna make the Bivol fight. Two years later I’m still right and I’ll be right about the Bivol fight as well.
The fact that he said two years ago he said he would fight Benavidez and people believed it and now we’re still here, he’s repeating the same playbook despite having the history, he’s already played this game and not held his word. It means he has a realisation of how dumb the fanbase is.”
Canelo has made it clear that he will not be discussing any other fights properly until his unified title defence against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 is done and dusted. He, as always, has options thereafter – not limited to David Benavidez or Terence Crawford.
