This Saturday night, Canelo Alvarez defends his undisputed super middleweight championship against Jaime Munguia. This is the ideal time for Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) knockout because fans are paying a steep $89.99 price to watch him on Prime Video PPV and DAZN PPV.
Munguia: The Perfect Target
#1 WBO Munguia is a come-forward type of fighter, who focuses mostly on his offense, and letting that be his defense. Munguia hits too hard and throws too many punches for Canelo to allow this fight to go the full 12 rounds.
If Canelo wants to avoid a replay of his loss to Dmitry Bivol, he’ll need to put his foot on the gas pedal and knock out Munguia.
Part of Canelo’s allure during his career was his ability to knock out opposition. He built his career on bludgeoning fighters to get KOs, but that’s not happening any longer. Is it age, or maybe Canelo is too rich and has lost the killer mindset he had before he became incredibly wealthy?
Fights Since Last Knockout:
Jermell Charlo
John Ryder
Dmitry Bivol
Gennadiy Golovkin
The knockout power that Canelo was known for has mysteriously disappeared since his eleventh-round TKO of Caleb Plant in 2021, and that’s not good going up against the highly motivated upstart Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs).
This is Munguia’s Super Bowl, and he’s going to be looking to walk through fire to win and earn a lucrative rematch. Unlike Canelo’s loss to Dmitry Bivol, this is not a guy that he can afford to walk away from without fighting a second time if he loses to him on Saturday night.
Where’s the Canelo We Used to Know?
When I look back at Canelo’s performance against Plant years ago, he looked like a different fighter. That was ages ago. Since that fight, Canelo has won three decisions and was beaten by a 12-round decision by Dmitry Bivol. It’s not exciting. I’m just wondering if Canelo has gone soft or is old age setting in?
- Why the change?
- Has Canelo gone soft?
- Is age finally catching up?
- Munguia’s Super Bowl
Sometimes people age quickly over a couple of years, and when they’re athletes, it can have a dramatic impact on their performances. We may be seeing that with Canelo. His shots are bouncing off his opponents without putting a dent, and he’s shelling up a lot, not letting his hands go due to his diminished cardio.