Paulie Malignaggi has reassessed his interest in a rematch between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez after being pleasantly surprised by the latter’s latest performance.
Indeed, many expected Alvarez to encounter a tough night’s work against Christian Mbilli but, as it happened, the Mexican produced a measured display and reclaimed his WBC title.
He did so via a clear unanimous decision victory last month, dethroning Mbilli in his first outing since losing his undisputed super-middleweight crown to Crawford.
Back then, in September 2025, ‘Bud’ moved up two weight classes and claimed a career-defining unanimous decision triumph, only to announce his retirement a few months later.
As a result, Mbilli was upgraded from ‘interim’ to full WBC champion but, prior to Crawford hanging up the gloves, there were rumours about a rematch with Canelo.
And even now, with the American having spent over a year out the ring, Canelo remains determined to lure the former three-division undisputed champion out of retirement.
Former world champion Malignaggi, meanwhile, has said on his YouTube channel that he would be all in on their second encounter if Canelo defeats top contender Lester Martinez.
“[Canelo’s performance against Mbilli] makes me a little more interested in [a Crawford rematch].
“Before, I had no interest in a Bud and Canelo rematch. It was more like you’re forcing it down my throat; you’re doing the rematch for the sake of stealing money.
“[But] now, because Canelo looked like this [against Mbilli] … I maybe want to see the [Crawford rematch] a little bit more.
“If you bring in the Lester Martinez fight, and he’s [Canelo’s] able to do this to Lester, I’m probably gonna wanna watch the [Crawford] rematch.”
Since boxing to a draw with Mbilli on the Canelo-Crawford undercard, Martinez has claimed the WBC ‘interim’ title at 168lbs and, in turn, positioned himself as a potential opponent for the 36-year-old champion.
