Lucas Jones
After establishing himself for more than a decade at the top of the sport as one of the biggest pay-per-view stars and the best pound-for-pound fighters of this century, boxing fans have become accustomed to the professional demeanor and measured confidence that the icon Mexican Canelo Alvarez carries.
But if you looked closely before construction to Saturday PBC on Prime Video PPV in Las Vegas (8pm ET, including simulcast on DAZN PPV), where Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) defends his undisputed 168-pound championship against Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) inside T-Mobile Arena, it’s clear that Alvarez is fighting much more than your polite Mexican compatriot.
Two new opponents entered the scene during Alvarez’s biannual residency in Sin City, where he typically headlines major events in May and September to celebrate the traditional holidays of Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day, respectively.
This time, Alvarez finds himself in constant need to defend himself, not least against the court of public opinion, which has reluctantly labeled him a dodger for avoiding a must-win showdown against two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs ), but in front of his former promoter, Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, who finds himself on the other side of the ring from Alvarez (as Munguia’s co-promoter) for the first time since their bitter 2020 divorce.
Indeed, the ongoing rivalry against De La Hoya bubbled up during Wednesday’s final press conference in unpredictable ways, as the Hall of Fame boxer openly took credit for carefully transforming Alvarez into the global star he has become today, while Alvarez uncharacteristically applauded accusing De La Hoya of stealing money from him (as well as reminding the boxing world of his former promoter’s several public mistakes in recent years).
Although De La Hoya’s boldness was almost certainly aimed at trying to distract Alvarez from his poised preparation to fight the burly and powerful Munguia, a 27-year-old from Tijuana trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, it seemed to almost work too well. Alvarez, who interrupted De La Hoya’s opening statements with a barrage of insults delivered in Spanish, eventually left his chair to go after him until security quickly intervened.
In the crapshoot world of pre-fight mental warfare, where poking the bear can have drastically different results based on the competitor in question, the debate now is whether Alvarez will have a lot to think about heading into such a dangerous clash this Saturday or If the constant state of agitation will take you to a whole new level of focus and motivation to fulfill your promise of an eight-round knockout.
Given Alvarez’s track record of answering the call when the pressure is on and the lights are brightest, the latter is more likely to happen, which is why Alvarez, who enters with definite advantages over Munguia in terms of experience and overall skill, remains as high as a 5-to-1 betting favorite.
Seeing this version of the “Canelo heel” return was interesting, especially since that side of Alvarez’s personality has been on vacation since he was last seen in 2018, when two failed drug tests ruled him out of a rematch scheduled for May. with Gennadiy Golovkin, which almost led Munguia, then just 21, to become the last-minute replacement (until the Nevada commission refused to approve him due to inexperience).
De La Hoya made references to the drug testing fiasco (which Alvarez claimed was due to the consumption of contaminated meat in Mexico) during his verbal altercation with his former fighter on Wednesday. What he failed to mention, however, was how much the negativity from that time in 2018 led to Alvarez being at his best.
Coming off a close draw with Golovkin in their first fight the previous year, while fans and media seemed to indirectly blame Alvarez for the controversial scores, the result was arguably the best performance of Alvarez’s great career. He backed Golovkin repeatedly during their September 2018 rematch en route to a majority decision win that erased any lingering doubts whether Alvarez lacked the kind of machismo Mexican fans have come to expect from their beloved heroes.
It is because of the strength of this performance, however, and the incredible success that followed, that fans so openly question their loyalty to Alvarez because of their ambivalence towards Benavidez.
Alvarez followed up Golovkin’s rematch win with the most fruitful three years of his professional career by unifying the middleweight titles against Danny Jacobs, moving up to light heavyweight to knock out title holder Sergey Kovalev and returning to super -middleweight to claim all four titles during an incredible 11-month stretch in 2021 that saw Alvarez dominantly defeat a trio of undefeated champions.
Considering Alvarez moved up to 175 pounds again in 2022 in a competitive loss to undefeated champion Dmitry Bivol before briefly teasing a title shot at cruiserweight, the excuses Alvarez used to avoid such a marketable rising star in Benavidez, whose ” Mexican Monster”, the nickname given to him by none other than Mike Tyson, continues to be a huge nuisance.
Alvarez referenced the fact that Benavidez regularly rehydrates more than 25 pounds as a reason why the fight doesn’t make sense (even though Alvarez has fought at light heavyweight twice in the last five years). He also said he would need to get Benavidez to agree to a rehydration clause, which he admits would lessen the credit he would receive for beating him.
Leaning on his A-side influence to make claims that don’t seem to make sense given his long history of daring to be great hasn’t been the best look for Alvarez, as critics continue to debate whether he’s scared of Benavidez , who recently announced his own move up to 175 pounds due to the frustration of waiting, or if he simply doesn’t want to give in to Benavidez’s demands.
Either way, unless the sanctioning bodies who benefit greatly from the large sanction fees Alvarez receives each time he defends their titles, order Alvarez to fight Benavidez next, it will be a dream matchup we may never see. And Alvarez, who has repeatedly accused fickle fans of never being satisfied, seems pleased with that.
Alvarez has always shown respect for Munguia and said he chose him as his opponent for this fight due to his exciting style, which only further frustrated critics who are still stuck on Alvarez’s previous stance that he was done fighting other Mexicans.
“Yes, I said I don’t want to fight Mexican fighters,” Alvarez said Wednesday. “But someone respectful like Munguia, someone who won this fight, is something I’m glad we were able to make happen. I feel better than ever and I’m ready for this fight. Fighting for Mexicans and Mexican history, I’m proud of that.”
De La Hoya’s spirited performance appears to be a direct reaction to Alvarez’s attempts to ban him from all fight week events, as he continues to accuse his former promoter of stealing everything from money to shine from his fighters. But it is too early to say whether the attempts at mental warfare will have results or whether the plan will backfire, as De La Hoya may have inadvertently placed a target directly on Munguia.
“I don’t really pay attention if [Munguia] is younger or older. I am different. I am Canelo,” said Alvarez. “I’m different and I don’t care. I think my experience, my talent and my intelligence are different.
“[A physical fight] That’s what I hope for and I really like. This will be a great Mexican war. I will win and win decisively.”
Who beats Canelo Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia and which support is mandatory? Visit SportsLine now to see Peter Kahn’s best bets for Saturdayall from the boxing expert who netted his followers a profit of over $4,000, and find out.
