An important look at the past week in boxing
BIGGEST WINNER
Canelo Alvarez
Alvarez is probably not the best fighter in the world pound for pound, as he suggested after his fight. One-sided decision about Jaime Munguia on Saturday in Las Vegas. That nod goes to Terence Crawford (Boxing Junkie’s No. 1) or Naoya Inoue these days.
However, the 33-year-old Mexican star is strongly asserting that the news of his decline is premature.
Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) looked like a lackluster fighter in his loss to Dmitry Bivol in 2022 and the slow wins over Gennadiy Golovkin and John Ryder that followed. He looks like the old Alvarez who was very good in decisions against Jermell Charlo and now Munguia.
What is the difference? He is healthy. His surgically repaired left wrist, which caused his worst performance, is now 100%.
He certainly looked at his best against Munguia, who threw a lot of punches but couldn’t penetrate Alvarez’s strong defense consistently enough to get the fight to a close. And Alvarez, who threw fewer punches but counted, landed almost at will. According to CompuBox, he landed 49.7% of his punch’s power.
The result was arguably Alvarez’s best performance since he dominated Callum Smith in 2020, a performance that certainly maintained his membership in the exclusive pound-for-pound club.
However, it’s important not to get carried away. The impressive victories over Charlo and Munguia had limited weight because Charlo and Munguia had moved up two divisions to fight and Munguia was still growing. Even Alvarez alluded to his apparent weakness after the fight.
“He’s strong but a bit slow. I can see every punch [coming],” said Alvarez.
Alvarez has a clear way to prove that he is the same fighter who has climbed to the top of many pound-for-pound lists and stayed there for many years: Defeating David Benavidez, a formidable fighter many believe that he dodged.
He was asked again after his win over Munguia if he was ready to face Benavidez, who is scheduled to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175 pounds on June 15.
Alvarez made it clear that he would do so if he had the money, meaning he demanded his payday be commensurate with the risk of facing his biggest threat at 168. And, While still on the ropes, he saw Benavidez in the crowd, looked him straight in the eye, and pointed to the ring as if to say, “I’ll see you here.”
Let’s hope he’s serious. Fans want to see that fight, assuming Benavidez beats a capable Gvozdyk. And Alvarez needs to further prove that he truly is the best.
THE BIGGEST LOSER
Jaime Munguia
Jaime Munguia left the ring feeling disappointed. Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Munguia said his first defeat was painful. Of course it is. The 27-year-old from Tijuana had a chance to make history but failed.
He shouldn’t be too hard on himself though, he has to remember who beat him, a future Hall of Famer with more experience in big fights than anyone else in boxing. A lot of good fighters have lost to Alvarez.
I believe the Munguia we see on Saturday night can beat almost anyone in the tournament. He may not be agile by Alvarez’s standards but he is quick enough to land punches consistently against good opponents, as we saw in his wins over Sergey Derevyanchenko and John Ryder.
It seems unlikely that anyone can dent Alvarez’s chin, but Munguia also has enough power to hurt or at least gain the respect of any other opponent. He became the first man to stop the rugged Ryder in January, something Alvarez was unable to do.
And he showed a lot of grit. I thought the end might be near when he was knocked down by a perfect right uppercut in Round 4. Instead, he weathered the storm, continued to fight hard and never now gave up even though Alvarez controlled the rest of the fight.
The point is that Munguia is an excellent fighter, especially after working with trainer Freddie Roach in his last two fights. It’s still too easy to beat him but he has and can continue to improve in that aspect.
In fact, he could follow the lead of Alvarez, who has developed from a solid defensive fighter to one of the best in the world by working on it.
If Munguia maintains his confidence after the first loss of his decades-long career and continues to develop, he can still become the dominant force he and his managers envision him to be. tolerate him.
“It’s like Floyd Mayweather fighting Canelo,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Munguia’s promoter. “Canelo went to school and then he became the face of boxing.”
Indeed, his time is not now but it could come soon.
rabbit punch
Welterweight opponent Eimantas Stanionis made a strong statement in unanimous decision victory via Gabriel Maestre on the Alvarez-Munguia undercard even though he returned after a two-year layoff. The secondary title holder used smart pressure to control the fight, attacking relentlessly behind his heavy jab while maintaining a solid defense. The Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs) had his moments but couldn’t last long. Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) looks like a bigger, perhaps better version of Isaac Cruz, another elite fighter who uses pressure to overwhelm his opponents. I don’t know if Stanionis can beat the talented Jaron Ennis, but everyone else in the 147-pound division should be wary of this fighting machine. Maestre? He’s clearly a good fighter. I hope the 37-year-old has at least one more big match to show what he can do. …Welterweight contender Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) and Fabian Maidana (22-3, 16 KO) defeated Alvarez-Munguia, giving Barrios the win unanimous decision. Blame it on Maidana, Marcos Maidana’s brother. He lets his hands move here and there but mostly just to survive and have the ability to do so, which makes it hard for Barrios to look good. Barrios could clearly do a better job of cutting out the box but he deserves a pass based on his opponent’s tactics. …
Featherweight contender Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) got off to a slow start before a surprisingly effective style of play Jessie Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KO) but found his rhythm in the middle of the fight and afterward brutally ends the matter liver in the 9th round after 14 months of leaving the ring. I don’t know what’s going on in the first third of the war. Maybe it was rusted. Maybe it’s Magdaleno, whose stick-and-move strategy has worked for a while. Maybe it was something else, maybe Figueroa was trying to prove in the first few rounds that he wasn’t just a puncher but that he could box. It’s clear he can box. It takes skill to build a successful track record even if you are someone who struggles with pressure. He doesn’t need to prove it. He should stick to what has been going on since the opening bell, which is to knock his opponent out with punches. … Wednesday’s news said the samples were provided by Ryan Garcia before his victory Devin Haney On April 20, he tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine. Garcia said he would never knowingly use steroids, which is standard in such a situation. Not important. I’ve said this a million times: Warriors are responsible for what goes into their bodies. If the investigation confirms that he had PEDs in his system then it is his fault.
