Sometimes, experts and analysts say some wild things that leave fans mad. It appears former world champion and ESPN analyst Timothy Bradley has landed himself in a similar pickle. You see, during last night’s coverage of Christian Mbilli vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko, the ‘Desert Storm’ commented on Canelo Alvarez, and let’s just say fans didn’t agree with it. 

While Mbilli managed to defeat three-time world title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko via a dominant 10-round unanimous decision, Bradley had gotten it into his head that former undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez wouldn’t dare to fight ‘Solide’ Mbilli, according to host of Inside Boxing of Pluto TV, Dan Canobbio.

Christian Mbilli wouldn’t mind facing Canelo Alvarez

Earlier today, Canobbio hopped on X to write, “Canelo will stay far away from him [Mbilli] — Tim Bradley.” It’s not unexpected from Bradley, who has previously criticized Canelo Alvarez for avoiding David Benavidez by calling the Mexican superstar “soft” and holding the championship title hostage. 

On the other hand, even Mbilli is eager to square off against Canelo, who is about to face Edgar Berlanga on Mexican Independence Day (September 14th). In fact, after the fight, in an interview with ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna, ‘Solide’ Mbilli said, “I’m ready for big fight. I want to be world champion. To be the best, I have to beat the best.”

Yes, he didn’t take Canelo’s name in particular, but no doubt he was talking about him since he added, “After [Berlanga], I think I would be ready for him.” Regardless of Mbilli’s readiness for the bout, the statement from Bradley seems to have irked the boxing community, who surprisingly took Canelo’s side and slammed Bradley in the comments section of the post. 

Is Timothy Bradley looking for praise from Paulie Malignaggi?

While Canelo Alvarez has been criticized for avoiding David Benavidez by fans and experts alike, it turns out Bradley’s Mbilli claim didn’t sit well with people. Like this user, who asked for drastic action against Bradley. “Bradley needs to be fired just for that dumba** statement alone,” the user wrote. However, it’s unlikely ESPN would do such a thing just because Bradley was pitting the two boxers together. 

Another user seemed unimpressed with Mbilli’s performance and shared their prediction. The user wrote, “Mbilli was not very impressive. Canelo stops him.” By experience alone, Canelo is a far more superior than Mbilli, who has barely faced quality opponents. 

Someone else had an interesting theory about why Timothy Bradley may have said what he said. “Tim just wants clicks with that statement and wants praise from Paulie on probox [TV],” the user argued. Paulie Malignaggi is an analyst on ProBox TV, and Bradley has appeared on his show several times. 

This user seemed fed up with experts introducing yet another competition for Canelo Alvarez after David Benavidez and Terence Crawford. The user responded with, “Another one. Canelo against the world😂.” However, it’s not just the experts who want to see Canelo fight Benavidez and Crawford—even several fans have advocated for those fights.

Meanwhile, Bradley’s claims left WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in disbelief. “He said that?” Stevenson questioned in response. While he might disagree with Bradley, Stevenson has previously claimed Terence Crawford would get the better of Canelo. But saying Christian Mbilli is a threat to Canelo might be too much of a stretch for Shakur Stevenson.

That said, it appears that Tim Bradley criticized Canelo Alvarez a bit too far with his statement. At least, that’s what these reactions from the boxing world suggest. However, Bradley might not have to wait long to see whether Canelo would fight Mbilli or not, since Canelo is seemingly fighting everyone except Benavidez and Crawford. Do you think, like Tim Bradley, Mbilli would be a challenge for Canelo?