A top trainer says Jaime Munguia 43-0 (34) will be a worthy challenger to undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39).
Mexican superstar Alvarez, 33, will defend his WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine championships against countryman Munguia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 4.
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia, 27, is fresh off his ninth-round knockout of hard-headed John Ryder 32-7 (18) in January.
British southpaw Ryder, who went the distance with Alvarez in a losing effort last May, was dropped by Munguia four times.
One interested observer who believe Munguia will put up a strong showing against Alvarez is trainer Robert Garcia.
“I think Munguia’s last performance showed that he’s ready and he’s going to compete. He’s going to go out there and give a fight good,” said Garcia to 210BoxingTV.
“He fought Ryder and Canelo went the distance with him and Munguia dropped him a few times and finishes him and stops him, which made it look even better for a huge event against Canelo. So I’m okay with the fight. It’s two Mexicans going against each other. It always sells good.”
Garcia added that while he expects Alvarez to win, he will be rooting for Munguia.
“We know that Munguia is going to go out there and put up some good rounds, Garcia said. “I pick Canelo. Munguia surprised the world when he became champion and nobody ever expected him to be a star.
“Now, fighting Canelo on the big stage. It’s huge for him too. He’s from Tijuana. I’m going to be cheering for Munguia.
“I’ve always said Canelo is the smartest businessman in the sport. Maybe we don’t see the fight [against David Benavidez] that we want, but I still respect him because he’s a smart businessman.
“He’s got a great team behind him and they’ve made hundreds of millions. I respect that. I’m going to cheer for Munguia because he’s going to be the one that nobody gives a chance and expects him to be there. He’s from Tijuana and I love Tijuana.”
Garcia added that a fight against 27-year-old Mexican-American David Benavidez 28-0 (24) could be just around the corner for Alvarez if he gets past Munguia without too many problems, considering the style similarities between the two challengers.
“But now that Canelo is picking Munguia after where he said he would never want to fight a Mexican. This is probably a good start,” said Garcia.
“He’s fighting a Mexican, meaning his next fight could be against Benavidez. If he said, ‘I don’t want to fight Mexicans because I don’t want to fight any other Mexican’, I respect that. That’s his opinion. That’s what he thinks and wants to keep to it.
“But now he broke that. Now he’s fighting a Mexican, meaning there’s no other excuse. He needs to fight Benavidez, too. So, now I think we will see it. Now that he chose to fight Munguia, I think we probably will see it.”
