Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya revealed last night that he believes Canelo Alvarez will defend his 168-pound titles against Jermall Charlo next in May, “walk right through him,” and then he hopes he’ll choose to face Jaime Munguia in September.
Jermall First, Munguía Later
Oscar may be overlooking that PBC wants Canelo to face David Benavidez in one of his final two fights on his three-fight, $100M contract with them on Amazon Prime PPV.
Munguia will likely need to wait until 2025 for a shot at Canelo because he’s booked up solid for this year, fighting Jermall in May and David Benavidez in September.
If Canelo faces Jermall Charlo on May 4th, they’ll undoubtedly insist on his fighting Benavidez in September to get a return on their investment. Although Canelo-Munguia is an excellent fight in its own right, it doesn’t compare to Canelo vs. Benavidez.
That’s going to be the real money-maker for PBC. Munguia is a typical fight for Canelo, similar to his September match against Jermell Charlo.
De La Hoya believes Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) is ready now for his chance to challenge Canelo after his ninth-round demolition job on British fighter John Ryder (32-7, 18 KOs) at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Munguia dropped Ryder four times in the fight and did a considerably better job of defeating him than Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) had last May, at least in terms of the outcome.
However, Canelo had an easier time dominating Ryder because he was never hurt in their contest like Munguia did last night.
Benavidez in the Queue
“David Benavidez, his style is incredible. He’s an amazing fighter. Yeah, he deserves a [title] shot, and right now Canelo is the King, and the King has to decide,” said Oscar De La Hoya at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night after Jaime Munguia’s victory over John Ryder in Phoenix, Arizona.
“The media can help Canelo decide after he fights Charlo. I believe Canelo is going to fight [Jermall] Charlo in May. I think Canelo will walk right through him, and hopefully, it’ll set up an all-Mexican in September [against Munguia].
David Benavidez deserves a world title opportunity. He’s been waiting in line. So, there’s a lot of players at 168,” said De La Hoya.
