Chris Algeri is expecting an interesting fight when undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39) defends his titles against Jaime Munguia 43-0 (34) in an all-Mexican showdown at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 4.
“Munguia is one of those guys who throws so much, he leaves a lot of holes, and the best version of Canelo counterpunches him and stops him, and he does it fairly easily,” former world champion turned commentator Algieri told ProBox TV.
“Thirty-three is when things start going downhill for most guys. But also he’s had a long career as well and Munguia is approaching his physical prime and it’s going to be interesting how the power is going to affect Munguia early on, because there’s going to be holes. There’s going to be spots.
“Think back to Jaime Munguia fights, how many times have you seen him trade left hooks and get cracked? He does that with Canelo, he’s probably going to get hurt and hurt early on.”
The 27-year-old Munguia, a former WBO junior middleweight champion, was impressive in his last outing when he dropped British southpaw John Ryder four times en route to a ninth-round stoppage in January.
Ryder went 12 rounds with Alvarez in Guadalajara, Mexico last May.
The public has been pushing for Alvarez to face concensus number one contender David Benavidez 28-0 (24), who has done everything in his power to get a crack at the champ. WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Alvarez has dismissed Benavidez’s credentials in the past, but if he keeps up his winning ways the fight will be inevitable.
In the meantime we get Munguia, who isn’t a bad second choice according to Algieri.
“I think it’s going to be an interesting fight,” Algieri continued. “They’re not going to have trouble finding each other, but I think Canelo is a little too sharp, a little too explosive, picks his spots just right and there’s enough holes in the offence of Munguia for Canelo to find those shots when he needs to.
“At this stage of his career, [Alvarez’s] punch output is going down and down so it makes this fight somewhat interesting. You’ve got the young, exuberance of Munguia who’s hungry and basically his entire career was made for this moment and he’s got his shot against an aging Canelo. He’s not the same guy he used to be. Does this make it a better fight? I think so.
“And I think it’s going to be fun while the fight lasts. I think we’re probably going to see a knockout in this fight but, while it lasts, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun because Jaime Munguia is allergic to being in bad fights.”
