Paulie Malignaggi has accused Canelo Alvarez of ‘taking advantage of the public’ following his win over Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night.
The bout in Las Vegas went the distance, with Alvarez winning by unanimous decision to retain his his WBC, WBA and WBO super-middleweight world titles.
Malignaggi, however, isn’t impressed.
The former boxing star, speaking to CanadaCasino, has accused Alvarez of ‘taking advantage of the public’ by fighting opponents not as good as himself.
He also blasted the decision to make the fight pay-per-view, too.
“I expect Canelo to keep doing what he’s been doing: taking advantage of the public,” he said.
“I don’t see him fighting anyone who really has a chance to beat him.
“And I normally wouldn’t have a problem with that – Julio Cesar Chávez Sr went on a retirement tour at the end of his career – but at least he respected the world championships and fought the best while he had them.
“And then, when he got beat for the world championships, he went on his retirement tour. I don’t have a problem with that. That’s respecting the sport first. That’s why Chávez is a legend and will always be a legend.
“But Canelo is taking advantage of things—he’s got the belt hostage, but he’s trying to go on a retirement tour where he avoids the best fighters consistently.
“He’s consistently doing that. And he’s gonna probably continue.
“There’s no reason why he wouldn’t do that if he’s been doing it already. He’s not gonna suddenly have a change of heart and say, ‘Oh, I’ve been taking advantage of the public. Let me fight the best now.’
“I think he’ll end up fighting maybe Chris Eubank. I think that is the kind of name you might see linked to Canelo after this fight.”
On the decision to make the fight pay-per-view, he added: “It’s a joke. It’s absolutely a joke that you can make people pay a pay-per-view price for this kind of c**p.
“And it’s not a knock on Edgar, you want to get chosen for this opportunity.
“It’s big money, but honestly, man– you [Canelo] are the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world and you’ve been outright ducking your best contenders for years.”
Terence Crawford took to social media after the clash to indicate he’s up for fighting Alvarez.
Malignaggi is unsure that bout will ever happen, however.
He stated: “I’m not sure if Crawford will fight again. I think he wants the Canelo fight.
“154 pounds is a very difficult weight class. And putting himself on the line against hungry 154-pounders without name recognition could hurt his legacy because they’re good enough to beat him, but don’t have the name recognition.
“It’s a little tough. He’s accomplished so much, but I don’t think he’d get the credit if he beat these 154-pounders.
“Look at someone like Bakhram Murtazaliev — he’s not even well-known. In fact, I just mispronounced his name—that’s how unknown he is.
“But he’s very talented, and you have a weight class full of guys like him. Crawford would be risking his legacy against unknown, excellent fighters.
“At 168 pounds, with Canelo, the biggest challenge would probably be the weight. So it’s risk-reward. I could see it being Canelo or bust for Crawford. It’s a shame because I want to see more of him, but I understand why he wouldn’t want to fight these hungry 154-pounders.”
