The most important questions will remain in the coming days as Canelo Alvarez defends his status as the face of boxing, boxing and middleweight champion on Saturday night.
For Hall of Famer Timothy Bradley Jr., facing an undefeated fellow in Mexico and former T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Amazon Prime Video, PPV.com The essence of defending the middleweight champion Jaime Munguia’s country is simple.
“Are we going to see the classic Canelo Alvarez?” Bradley made the surprise appearance on Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Water” show. I understand that this is a Mexican vs. Mexican war. Mexico, and I know everything about this fight (including Alvarez and his former adviser and promoter, the complaints of Munguia’s American promoter, Oscar De La Hoya). “So, will Canelo’s good come out?”
Bradley recalled that the 33-year-old Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) is undefeated in his last four fights, despite losing to light heavyweight champion Demeter Lee Bivol.
“This is a guy who can take Alvarez’s offense in the past,” Bradley said.
Bradley believes the results are huge.
If Alvarez loses, his status as the most popular fighter in the sport will be jeopardized, his relevance in the pound-for-pound rankings will be jeopardized, and his time will be over.
“Vintage Canelo Alvarez is something we haven’t seen in a long time,” Bradley said. — Everything about this fight will speak volumes for the future of these two.
——Where did Canelo go? Going forward [and winning] against another young man, a bad guy like [former middleweight champion David] Benavidez, because this young man is as strong [Mungia] ? Or, if he looks normal, we won’t fight Benavidez.
We will see a vintage Canelo Alvarez against Munguia?
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— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) April 30, 2024
This puts Alvarez in trouble with someone like Edgar Berlanga in September, as a possible fight with Benavidez and the lack of light heavyweight on June 1. Controversial champion Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol is a sad prospect.
Former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri said on “Deep Water” that he’s excited for boxing weekend because of the demand from Latino boxing fans here. The big question in the Algiers game is, can Munguia of Tijuana use that energy and survive Alvarez’s early blows?
– What kind of evening can we expect? Can Jaime seize power? “Because Canelo has the power to change the game and Munguia’s attacks have many holes,” said Algieri. – What if he took that shot and kept doing it while filming? I am very excited about this fight.
The poor defense of the 27-year-old Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) adds to the serious issues raised by opponent Paulie Malignaggi of Deepwater.
– Everyone starts to get stronger. Will he face any problems and get knocked out in the seventh round? The eighth round? Round nine? – Because that is the problem of Munguia. He marveled at them all night.
– I’m not part of Canelo’s car. I’m analyzing this fight because that’s what we’re dealing with, and if Munguia hits between these two sets, it’s hard for me to see him maintaining his current pace. .
Although Munguia has increased his focus on defense under new coach Freddie Roach, a more experienced Alvarez may discover and learn from his longstanding weaknesses.
“Maybe (Munguia) will be embarrassed,” Malignaggi said. – Canelo’s strength (and strength) – punches you don’t see hurt you. We saw (Light Sergi) Derevyanchenko work in Munguia. What if Canelo does it again?
– Can Munguia keep it up? If so, Canelo is in trouble. If Canelo slows Munguia down, Munguia will be in trouble.
