yeah honestly I wanna see Mall unify so he can then move up to 168 so 160 is clear for Mell and 154 clear for Spence.
Mall needs a fight ASAP and GGG and Janibek are busy so he needs to move up and take a "try out" fight to see how he feels at 168 and then jump into that Plant/Benevidez/Canelo mix.
His due mandatory would be Adames, I’d be cool with that, like it better than the Munguia fight. They built up Adames too had him beat Derev and Montiel, two former Charlo opponents. That should be a solid fight if they won’t have second thoughts about it.
It’s unfortunate cause I always thought Mall is a bit better than Mell but unlike his twin, Mall doesn’t seem to be interested in his legacy, dude looks to be comfortable with how things going, milking a belt against middling opposition (one exception was Derev), probably still trying to stall time so he doesn’t have to face anybody formidable before his turn comes in the Canelo sweepstakes. I get the rationale behind it but it’s off-putting and lame nevertheless.
I don’t see him fighting Alimkhanuly, that’s high risk low reward plus they would have to work with Top Rank.
Best option I can see is GGG vs Charlo if Charlo’s team gives up on the idea to get Canelo in the foreseeable future (not likely) because GGG is:
- Old
- Well known
- Is a network free agent now
So checks all the boxes Janibek doesn’t
As for the PBC 168ers I can only see Plant as a Charlo opponent, they think Benavidez is too big, doesn’t seem like they want any part of that fight for now.