Canelo Alvarez upcoming defence of his undisputed super middleweight title against Jermell Charlo has split opinion amongst the boxing world, and Paulie Malignaggi has made it clear which side of the fence he sits on.
Canelo vs Charlo will be the first time two reigning undisputed champions have locked horns in the four belt era, with Charlo moving up from light middleweight to take on the Mexican.
However, speaking on his YouTube channel Paulie TV, the often outspoken Malignaggi blasted the fight and said the move “screwed” boxing fans.
“Canelo Alvarez has found a way to kill not one, but two super fights in one shot. Jermell Charlo is a top fighter, but weight classes in boxing exist for a reason, and he’s two full weight classes below.
We already knew we weren’t going to get Canelo Alvarez vs David Benavidez. But just like that, Jermell Charlo vs Tim Tszyu also gets taken off the table. Two super fights killed in one shot.
Boxing fans knew these two fights were terrific fights. This is why boxing is a joke, are we kidding each other? For this fight? Boxing fans get screwed again.
The announcement of Alvarez fighting Charlo as opposed to twin brother Jermall came as a huge surprise, as many thought a bout with the latter was a done deal.
Although Charlo will have to jump up two weight classes to super middleweight, he and Canelo were once both in the same weight category some believe that there may not be as big a size differential as one would initially expect.
Many in the sport also believe that Alvarez is a fighter on the decline, and in his last three fights against John Ryder, Gennadiy Golovkin and Dmitri Bivol, he has not looked as clinical as he has in earlier outings.