Did Canelo Alvarez accept the Matchroom deal over the PBC deal because the former offered a ‘soft touch’ in Canelo Alvarez?
Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi posed the question on ProBox TV recently.
He suggested the PBC deal would have had Canelo pitted against Jermell Charlo and David Benavidez (in that order) while the Matchroom Sports deal pitted Canelo against Dmitry Bivol and Gennady Golovkin (in that order).
Malignaggi suggested Canelo’s handlers, in both scenarios, foresaw a possible loss for Alvarez in both opening fights (Bivol and Charlo). As a result, the Matchroom Sports deal was the preferred option because in the event Canelo lost he would be able to face a softer touch in 40-year-old Golovkin rather than 25-year-old David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KO).
“We knew Bivol might beat Canelo,” said Paulie.
“…. He [Canelo and his team] could also see a loss in both opening fights; [Against] Charlo if the PBC deal happened, with Benavidez on the back-end. But Matchroom had the Bivol fight (first) with an older Golovkin on the backend.”
“So he said ‘in case I lose the first fight, I can always sell the softer touch because I have a built-in rivalry with Golovkin.’”
What Malignaggi didn’t mention is that Canelo vs Golovkin 3 would also generate more revenue. So, in addition to Golovkin being the perceived lesser threat, a Canelo fight with GGG would be more lucrative than a bout with Benevidez who doesn’t have a lot of juice with casual fans yet.
“I think it’s a little bit late for this fight but considering the circumstance – and that Bivol just beat Canelo rather easily – it fits well.”
