It’s an all-Mexican affair on Cinco De Mayo weekend on May 4 in Las Vegas. The bill, put together by DAZN features undefeated Jaime Munguia ( 43-0) challenging a proven warrior in Saul ” Canelo ” Alvarez for the undisputed crown at 168lbs.
Having debuted on October 29, 2005, Alvarez has, by dint of assiduity and valour carved a niche for himself and earned the accolade “The Face Of Boxing” (rightly so).
Having the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Kovalev, Gennadiy Golovkin, Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol on his resume with a ( 60-2-2) record, Canelo inexorably deserves all the plaudits and more.
But with 484 rounds of professional boxing under his belt, including even many more rounds of sparring and rigorous routines, one wonders whether Canelo’s engine would remain the same. Has father time caught with him, as Oscar seeks to suggest? Or would his vast experience come to bear in the battle between undisputed and undefeated?
Munguia is young and fresh; a ferocious operator but with flaws of his own.
If Canelo’s engine shows signs of wear and tear, Munguia might just come up with a win: a huge upset for which a section of boxing fans would be grateful.
Why? That upset, if it ever manifests, opens up the Super Middleweight scene where all the belts have been ” held hostage ” by Alvarez for a long time: denying younger, hungrier contenders the opportunity to at least catch a glimpse.
Fighters like David Benavidez and David Morrell Jnr have consistently called out Canelo but have been ignored. And with a Munguia win, their chances of getting that title shot become more likely.Â
There would be mandatories, and failure to honour the same would mean vacating one or two straps. This makes the division more open and possibly more exciting.
Ryan Garcia’s recent “unexpected” win over Haney has brought boxing a lot of buzz that has been quite missing in contemporary times. A Munguia triumph, therefore, offers the sport that unpredictable tag once again and further perpetuates the seeming bloom it’s currently experiencing. You can’t blame Canelo for dismissing these calls; at this point, he calls the shots, and you can’t begrudge him.
