By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez could face Jaime Munguia next May, followed by David Benavidez in September on Showtime PPV.
Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN MX is reporting that Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) is looking at Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) and Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) for his two fights next year to complete his three-fight deal with Showtime.
Munguia has been trying to get a fight with Canelo for years, but he’s arguably been ignored because his opposition has been so incredibly poor, and he’s looked terrible in the fights that he’s had.
It wouldn’t have been sporting if Canelo had faced Munguia during the last ten years, and it’s still not a fair fight.
Munguia doesn’t belong in the same galaxy as Canelo talent-wise. Munguia belongs in the HD1 galaxy 13.5 billion light years away from the ring with Canelo.
Ideally, Munguia should prove himself against someone like David Morrell Jr. before he’s fed to Canelo because at least the boxing public won’t be totally ripped off of their money when they order the Canelo-Munguia fight on Showtime PPV. Of course, Canelo fighting Munguia is a business-level fight to make money.
The fight makes sense for these reasons:
1. Munguia is no threat to beating Canelo
2. He’s well-known to hardcore boxing fans.
Canelo has gotten the first fight of the Showtime contract out of the way against Jermell Charlo last September, and he has two remaining, against the 27-year-old Munguia and Benavidez.
Despite Showtime no longer planning to place boxing events on their network after 2023, they still have two PPV fights remaining on their contract with Canelo that they need to get out of the way next year before they end.
Fans would prefer Canelo fight someone good next May instead of Munguia, with his inflated resume filled with tomato cans from top to bottom.
Better options for Canelo’s next fight:
- David Morrell
- Dmitry Bivol
- Artur Beterbiev
- Janibek Alimkhanuly
Munguia has a fight in January against super middleweight contender John Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) he must win before proceeding to his long-awaited contest against Canelo in May.
Some would argue that Canelo must be really desperate to be looking in the direction of facing Munguia next May, as this is a fighter that he’s never shown interest in fighting. Munguia has been matched against mediocre opposition his entire ten-year professional career.
He’s a classic example of a manufactured fighter who is nowhere near as good as his glittering 42-0 record.
If Munguia had been fighting quality opposition his entire career, it’s likely that he would have at least ten defeats and would be a journeyman ham & egger. At this stage. Instead, Munguia is unbeaten and on the verge of making millions as Canelo’s next opponent in May, as long as he wins his fight against Ryder.
Munguia’s best wins:
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko – *controversial
- Liam Smith
- Gabriel Rosado
- Dennis Hogan – *controversial – booed badly by fans after
- Gary O’Sullivan
- Kamil Szeremeta
- Sadam Ali
It’s unclear who Canelo will face if Munguia loses to the 35-year-old Ryder, as he certainly won’t give a rematch to the British fighter, whom he defeated last May in Mexico in a bloody fight.
Munguia can’t be counted on to defeat Ryder, as he looked awful in his recent fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko last June, barely beating the washed 37-year-old fighter by a close twelve round unanimous decision.
Derevyanchenko came into the fight, having lost four out of six fights, but he was giving Munguia a boxing lesson for eleven rounds until getting dropped in the twelfth from a body shot.
Although Derevyanchenko still appeared to have done enough to deserve the victory, the judges gave it to the A-side fighter Munguia. It’s fair to say that if Munguia fights like that again, he’ll need the judges to save him against Ryder because he will get worked over.
It might be better if Golden Boy forgets about Ryder and just moves to the 27-year-old Munguia straight into the Canelo fight if possible because he’s not good enough to be counted on to win this fight without help.
“The remaining fights of the agreement would take place in May and September of next year, contemplating a possible battle against David Benavidez for [September], as long as he wins against Demetrius Andrade this November 25,” said Salvador Rodriguez to ESPN Knockout about Canelo Alvarez potentially facing Jaime Munguia & Benavidez in 2024. “Those two fights would be distributed by Showtime PPV.”
