JAIME MUNGUIA'S FIRST WORDS AFTER LOSING TO CANELO ALVAREZ

CANELO VS. MUNGUIA | FULL CARD FIGHTS

CANELO VS. MUGUIA: UNDERCARD DRAWS CRITICISM AHEAD OF SATURDAY NIGHT SHOWDOWN

 Fans are questioning the hefty $89.99 price tag for this Saturday’s Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia PPV card, given that the undercard lacks any interesting fights to justify the high cost of ordering the event on Amazon Prime Video and DAZN PPV.

 Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) will defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) in the main event. That’s a solid match-up, but it’s not the blockbuster that would justify the near hundred-dollar price the organizers are charging for the event.

The Warm-Up Undercard Fights

Mario Barrios vs. Fabio Maidana: In the co-main event, Mario Barrios will defend his WBC interim welterweight title against Fabian Maidana, who is best known for being related to Marcos Maidana. Fabian isn’t ranked in the top 15, and his best career win came against Andrey Klimov in 2018.

Brandon Figuera vs. Jessie Magdaleno: Former WBA super bantamweight champion Figueroa (24-1, 18 KOs) lost to his title in 2021 and now holds the WBC featherweight interim belt after beating Mark Magsayo. Figueroa will defend his interim belt against the 32-year-old former WBO 122-lb champion Magdaleno (29-2, 18 KOs), who is coming off a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision against Raymond Ford last April.

Eimantas Stanionis vs. Gabriel Maestre: Stanionis defends his WBA ‘regular’ welterweight title against #4 ranked WBA contender Maestre (6-0-1, 5 KOs) Maestre is a 2012 Olympian from Venezuela, who hasn’t been tested at the professional level against quality opposition yet. He has a 10-round draw against Taras Shelestyuk in 2022.

Organizers Need to Sweeten the Deal

Fans feel the Canelo-Munguia fight is not interesting enough to warrant the steep price without a worthwhile undercard.  They see the undercard as being just thrown together with washed-up guys and paper champions.

Stanionis and Barrios aren’t viewed as true champions, and Figueroa and Magadeno are viewed as over-the-hill. Fabian Maidana isn’t a world-class fighter, and Maestre is an older guy with 7 fights on his resume against weak opposition, and he already has a draw on his resume.

Given the poor undercard, fans aren’t excited about paying the $89.99 price tag to order the Canelo-Munguia card on Amazon Prime Video PPV, DAZN PPV, and PPV dot com.

The organizers aren’t going to drop the price of the event, but it would be in their best interest to add a worthy fight to the undercard to motivate fans to purchase the event and give the ones that have their money’s worth.

- Tim Compton

TAMAULIPAS BELT | #CANELOMUNGUIA

Road to #CaneloMunguia

5 de Mayo Commemorative Belts

TAMAULIPAS BELT

These special belts created as a special trophy, which is bestowed upon the winner of great fights held around this holiday regardless of the nationality of the contenders.

These Special Belts concept was born in 2017, and since then, every year a Mexican culture is selected to create these belts and present a tribute from the WBC to the world boxing and Mexican costumes.

In the case of boxing, something magical happens, as our sport has two dates on which we can see boxing at its maximum level: May 5 and September 16 (Commemorative dates for Mexicans).

We proudly present you all of our 5 de Mayo commemorative belts so far:

Huichol I

Chiapaneco I

Maya I

Mazahua

Mestizo

Puebla 

Tamaulipas

WHY IS CANELO FIGHTING MUGUIA? WHAT ABOUT BENAVIDEZ? CHARLO?

Super middleweight undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, above, will fight Jaime Munguia on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Sarah Stier/Getty Images

 The latest winner of the Canelo Alvarez sweepstakes is Jaime Munguia, who beat out Jermall Charlo and Edgar Berlanga to land a May 4 fight in Las Vegas against boxing's top star. With that fight comes a chance at boxing championship glory, and of course, the biggest payday of Munguia's career.

Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) enters the undisputed super middleweight championship bout on the heels of a career-best performance, a ninth-round TKO victory over John Ryder in January. Munguia has improved greatly under the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.

And now he'll meet his countryman on Cinco de Mayo weekend. Canelo-Munguia is the first all-Mexican showdown for a title above 160 pounds.

How did Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) select Munguia? What lies ahead for Canelo now that he's back in the fold with PBC for at least one fight? Let's dive into it:

Does Munguia have any realistic shot of beating Canelo?

Jaime Munguia, left, defeated John Ryder by ninth-round TKO in January. Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images

Munguia is a worthy opponent and arguably earned his shot after the way he defeated Ryder. In comparison, Canelo wasn't able to finish Ryder last May and went the distance, though he did break the Englishman's nose and handed him a comprehensive 12-round beating.

And there's little doubt that Canelo softened up Ryder for Munguia. Nonetheless, Munguia capitalized. His defense was his biggest flaw as he built up his record, a flat-footed pressure fighter who relied on power shots. But against Ryder, Munguia was far more defensively responsible.

He held his guard up tight and used his jab much more effectively in that fight in January. Munguia boxed on his toes more, too. He's come a long way since his days as a 154-pound titleholder and appears to be steadily improving with each bout.

Naturally, it's one matter to box with discipline against a fighter like Ryder, a world-class boxer who retired afterward. It's quite another to do so with success against one of the sport's elite.

While Munguia's defense is much improved at age 27, it's still a weakness. He's often wide open for countershots, which should make him an easy target for Canelo's power punches.

Canelo's hand and foot speed will be disparate, too, as is experience. Canelo has shared the ring with all-time greats such as Floyd Mayweather, Gennadiy Golovkin (36 rounds) and Miguel Cotto. Sixty rounds with those boxers alone.

Munguia's toughest opponent, meanwhile, was Ryder.

Munguia could find success early in the fight; he has the adequate size and strength to compete with Canelo. But once Canelo finds his timing against the slow-footed Munguia, he should be able to land his vaunted power-punch combinations at will, when Munguia's chin will be truly tested for the first time.

At 33, Canelo remains boxing's top star and is rated the No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter by ESPN. He opened up as a -650 favorite, per ESPN BET.

MUNGUIA VS. ROSADO | HONDA CENTER