Who could blame Canelo for taking the money and running if he is offered a bout against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul?

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier frequently says of mixed martial arts, "there are levels to this," when odd matches are proposed. The same is true in boxing, where records often mean next-to-nothing. It's not just that you won that matters in boxing, it's who you have beaten to get that impressive record that is significant.

Fighters like unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and unified super welterweight champion Terence Crawford have repeatedly proven themselves against the best competition they could find. Their records stand up to the toughest scrutiny. It's why Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is ranked No. 2 pound-for-pound by keviniole.com and ESPN.com and No. 3 by Ring. Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) holds similar high rankings at No. 5 by ESPN, No. 7 by Ring, and No. 8 by keviniole.com.

Then there is Jake Paul, whose 11-1 pro boxing record was built against a social media star, an ex-NBA slam dunk champion, former (and long over the hill) MMA fighters and very low-level boxers. The only quality boxer Paul fought was Mike Tyson, and Tyson was 58 years old and hadn't had a quality win in more than a quarter of a century.

In news as surprising in the boxing world as perhaps the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers' was in NBA circles, Julius Julianis reported on X late Monday that Alvarez would fight Paul in May. This came only hours after Ring Magazine reported agreements were reached for Canelo to face Crawford on Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The Alvarez-Crawford fight seems credible, given that Turki Alalshikh, owner of Ring Magazine, has publicly pursued negotiations. However, the Alvarez-Paul report caught many off-guard and raises questions about its legitimacy. Though Julianis' reporting has been reliable, there has to be some skepticism about it given the disparity of size and talent between the two and Alvarez's past insistence he wouldn't fight Paul.

There was plenty of skepticism in the last two years about the viability of an Alvarez-Crawford fight, frequently from Alvarez himself, because of their size difference. Talk of the fight began in earnest after Alvarez's one-sided decision over Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30, 2023. This was two months after Crawford, in the performance of his lifetime, won the undisputed welterweight title by stopping Errol Spence in nine one-sided rounds. That win pushed Crawford to an almost universal No. 1 pound-for-pound at the time.

After Canelo's victory over Charlo, he was asked if he'd consider a match against Crawford, despite the three-weight classes between them. 

"You know, I always say that if a fight makes sense, why not?" Alvarez said at the time. "... Like I said, maybe, but I don't really know. Right now, I'm just going to enjoy this fight and, please, just let me enjoy this fight."

Alvarez's reticence was that he wouldn't receive the proper credit if he defeated Crawford, an elite opponent, because of the size. But when Paul fought Tyson on Nov. 15, he weighed 227 1/4, 60 1/2 pounds more than Alvarez weighed for his last fight, a win over Edgar Berlanga.

Paul is a social media influencer turned boxer. He's by all accounts taken his fighting seriously and he's gotten much better than he was at the start. But he's not now, and he never will be, an elite world-class fighter at the level or an Alvarez or a Crawford.

Alvarez would beat him even if Paul weighed 227 and Alvarez was 166. That's the kind of disparity in talent there is between them. It's no slam dunk that the state athletic commission will approve Paul as an opponent for Alvarez given the gap in talent and experience between them.

It probably will because Paul's size may mitigate some of their concerns, and, let's face it, the amount of money involved would be difficult to ignore.

Paul's not a world-class boxer, but he is a genius as a promoter and he'd drum up interest in the bout like few others.

Alvarez has built a well-deserved reputation for willingly seeking out the elite competition, but that has been different the last two years. After his loss to Dmitry Bivol in 2022, Alvarez seemed to switch gears. He fought John Ryder, who was levels in talent below him; and then Charlo, who was two weight classes lighter. In 2024, Canelo fought Jaimie Munguia in May and Berlanga in September, avoiding the obvious challenge of David Benavidez.

If this report is true, Alvarez's decision to accept a fight with Paul now is hardly surprising. He could well earn a nine-figure payday when all receipts are counted for fighting Paul. And while it's simple for a boxing writer with no stake in the game to say no and pan it, how could he realistically walk away from that money?

More to the point, how could anyone expect him to walk away from such a payday?

The bout with Crawford would be a celebration of the sport, a match that would pit a pair of the greatest of their era against each other. Both will enter the Hall of Fame on the first day they're eligible. Alvarez won world titles at 154, 160 and 168 and was undisputed at 168. Crawford collected championship belts at 135, 140, 147 and 154. He was undisputed at 140 and 147 and is a unified champion at 154.

That fight would also be massive and Alvarez could wind up with another nine-figure payday.

And let's be honest: No one would be excited about the competitive aspects of Alvarez-Paul, but the spectacle would be off the charts. With the kind of money Alvarez stands to make, it wouldn't be right to say no.

The only bad thing would be that if Alvarez fights Paul instead of IBF super middleweight champion William Scull in the spring, it would deny Crawford the opportunity to fight for a third undisputed championship. Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) is not highly regarded by boxing experts and claimed the vacant IBF title after defeating Vladimir Shishkin.

Crawford, though, probably would be OK with that considering he'd make a payday that would be three, four or maybe even five times more than he's ever made.

We'll see if either, or both, fights actually happen. 

Some boxing purists will undoubtedly be turned off and call a potential Alvarez-Paul fight a disgrace, but let's see them say no to a $100 million paycheck.

Then, and only then, will it make sense to take serious any complaints about the bout being made.