One of the biggest names in boxing, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, is back in the ring this weekend as he faces fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia in a Cinco de Mayo clash.
Alvarez (60-2-2) has made fighting on Cinco de Mayo weekend something of a habit, and the super middleweight champion and his four belts are a perennial drawcard for fans. This fight will reportedly earn him up to $35m USD, and there has already been fireworks with Thursday’s (AEST) press conference descending into bitter verbal warfare with fellow legend Oscar De La Hoya.
But the future hall-of-famer, who built his legacy by taking the biggest names and the hardest fights available – and winning most – has drawn plenty of criticism ahead of this weekend’s bout due to his choice of opponent.
Boxing: CANELO V MUNGUIA Mexican superstars will go toe-to-toe for the Super Middleweight World Title | SUN 5 MAY 10AM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
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Munguia (43-0) is certainly no mug. He boasts good hand speed, powerful combinations, and a remarkable output which could trouble Canelo.
But the former WBO light middleweight (super welterweight) champion is viewed as being a class below some of Alvarez’s other potential opponents at 168 pounds.
The 27-year-old is the number-one ranked challenger by the WBO and WBC, but has not yet established himself among boxing’s elite – though that will change if he secures a massive upset victory at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to make a name for myself and start a great legacy,” Munguia said recently.
There’s reason to believe that Munguia is capable of victory, even if he doesn’t have the class of the only two fighters to best Canelo in the past (Floyd Mayweather Jnr in 2013 at 152 pounds, Dmitry Bivol in 2022 at light heavyweight).
Munguia is a busier fighter than Canelo, whose accuracy remains outstanding even if his output has dropped in recent years. When he fought John Ryder this Cinco de Mayo weekend a year ago, Alvarez landed 179 of his 459 punches per CompuBox.
In his most recent fight, against Jermell Charlo in September, that further dipped to 134 of 385.
It’s a significant lessening in output, particularly compared to his 202 of 622 punches in the 2018 rematch with the great Gennadiy Golovkin.
Boxing: CANELO V MUNGUIA Mexican superstars will go toe-to-toe for the Super Middleweight World Title | SUN 5 MAY 10AM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Compare that with Munguia: fighting Gabriel Rosado in 2021, he landed a staggering 328 of 821 punches according to CompuBox. Against Sergiy Derevyanchenko last June, he scored 189 of 800 punches.
The biggest question mark, as has become the case each time Canelo steps into the ring in recent times, is just how much the ageing superstar has slowed down.
Fans and pundits openly muse whether Alvarez is past his best, whether he is now beatable – but of course, they still tune in.
Munguia’s combination punching and heavy output, which has delivered him 34 knockouts in his 43 wins, also leaves him open to the devastating counterpunching ability of Alvarez.
Munguia throws plenty, but it also means he cops plenty in return. Against Alvarez, that might be his downfall – as the Vegas bookies are predicting.
Canelo’s heavy favouritism reflects the biggest criticism levelled at the pay-per-view superstar – that he is fighting someone who he should beat, rather than a truly 50/50 challenge.
For two years, one name has constantly followed Alvarez around: David Benavidez.
Benavidez held the WBC super middleweight championship from 2017-2018 before being stripped after testing positive to cocaine. He regained it from 2019-2020 before being stripped again for weighing in too heavy for a title defence.
But he won the interim belt in 2022 and then dominated Caleb Plant last March to retain that title and his status as the mandatory challenger to Alvarez’s WBC belt.
27-year-old Benavidez called out Alvarez after the fight. He was the obvious pick – the standout candidate, and his impressive victory over the excellent Plant proved beyond doubt that he was ready and deserving of his shot.
But Alvarez said no – firmly and repeatedly, adding he would only take the fight if a promoter offered him 150 to 200 million USD.
Benavidez has subsequently claimed his promoters offered a guaranteed $60m USD to Alvarez, plus pay-per-view takings.
“Before he asked for the 200 million, the offer my promotion company made him was 60 million,” Benavidez said. “How much more is he going to make with PPV money? Because there’s still more money to be made later with the Pay-Per-View. The guaranteed figure alone was 60 million.”
Canelo rejected that offer had been made.
Benavidez crushed Demetrius Andrade to defend the interim belt in November, further cementing his status as the obvious challenger for Canelo.
But recognising that Alvarez was refusing to fight him, Benavidez moved up a division and will fight former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk for that organisation’s interim belt in June.
In February, David Benavidez’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz claimed Alvarez’s legacy is ‘stained’ by not fighting the unbeaten 27-year-old.
“Canelo Alvarez will make his legacy and his legacy will be stained, because he did not fight the best at this time which is Benavidez,” Lewkowicz argued.
“I think the children, maybe the grandchildren one day, will ask him why he did not fight Benavidez, because he [Canelo] says he wants the best fights, but that’s the best fight.”
Former two-weight world champion Andre Ward said in March that not fighting Benavidez would ‘absolutely’ damage Alvarez’s legacy.
“Absolutely,” Ward told The Breakfast Club. “Canelo fans regularly call me a hater, but I am telling the truth.
“When he fought Kovalev, Kovalev was cooked. He wasn’t ‘The Krusher.’ He wasn’t the undefeated guy. He had lost that. I’m not knocking the hustle, but you lose me when you start saying, ‘I’m the best fighter in the world.’
“You lose me when you don’t fight the best but you say everybody else has got to fight the best.
“Canelo is a really good fighter, but you don’t know how good you are until you fight the other best.”
But Alvarez hit back at claims he is ‘ducking’ Benavidez, saying last month: “Yeah it always happens – Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders.
“At the end of the day, I beat practically all of them. If I beat Benavidez, they’re gonna say, ‘Oh, why don’t you face this other guy?’
“Look at my history, I’ve done everything in boxing. I’ve done it all.”
That’s true enough.
But for a man who built his legacy on taking on the tough fights – as the fighters he listed proves – it seems that his approach is changing.
“I fight any fighter and I earn my good money, so I can do whatever I want this time, I deserve it because I did everything in my career, I deserve to be in this position,” Canelo said in an interview with Fight Hub TV.
But Canelo has not fought a genuine elite name since his loss to Bivol in 2022, a fight in which he appeared disheartened long before the final bell or the scorecards were read out.
Canelo did not seek a rematch after that Bivol defeat.
He even rejected fellow pound-for-pound superstar Terence Crawford, who declared he was keen to jump up in weight to fight Alvarez in what would be a mega-money payday, an all-time legacy fight.
At 33, Canelo may believe he is not quite the same fighter he used to be. But from the outside, it is the difference in mentality, not skills, which is most galling.
He’s still a legend with a legacy that will go down in the history books.
But he’s not adding to that legacy against opponents like Munguia, a man who is hungry to begin forging his own legacy and earn a place in boxing’s elite.
Beat Munguia this weekend, and the first name on everyone’s lips will be Benavidez. Again.
But Alvarez shows no desire to take that risk.
The fight-anyone attitude that made him a legend seems to have disappeared.
The remaining question is whether – or when – the skills go too.
Boxing: CANELO V MUNGUIA Mexican superstars will go toe-to-toe for the Super Middleweight World Title | SUN 5 MAY 10AM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.