Former world champion Chris Algieri believes the May 4 all-Mexican clash between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Jaime Munguia could turn into a shootout.
The fight was formally announced this week following weeks of intense speculation about who would broadcast and who would promote the fight, with Munguia fighting off competition from Edgar Berlanga to be in the opposite corner in Las Vegas.
But with the finer details in place, Algieri looked ahead to the fight and told ProBox TV: “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.”
Munguia is 27-years-old and 43-0 with 34 knockouts. Veteran Canelo, still the biggest name in the sport, turned pro in 2005 and the 33-year-old has won 60 fights (with 39 KOs) against two losses and two draws.
“Thirty-three is when things start going downhill for most guys,” Algieri continued. “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 probably going to get hurt and hurt early on.”
The fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena, where three of Caenlo’s last four fights have been hosted, against Dmitrii Bivol, Gennadiy Golovkin and Jermall Charlo, last September.
Munguia was last seen taking out John Ryder in nine one-sided rounds in Phoenix in January, the same opponent who went 12 with Canelo in Guadalajara last May.
“I think it’s going to be an interesting fight,” Algieri added. “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 offense of Munguia for Canelo to find those shots when he needs to.
“At this stage of his career, his [Canelo’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.”