Undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has looked back at some of the greats of the sport to create what he believes to be the perfect fighter, including himself for one of those attributes.
Canelo has struggled to appease his demanding fans during his last four contests, suffering a first defeat in almost nine years when he was outpointed by Dmitry Bivol at light-heavyweight, before dropping back to super-middleweight and going the distance with each of Gennady Golovkin, John Ryder and Jermell Charlo – all of whom he was expected to knock out.
Alvarez now finds himself fighting a fellow Mexican for the first time since he faced Julio César Chávez back in 2017, gearing up to face the undefeated Jaime Munguia, who many believe is the heir to the throne in terms of Mexican boxing and potentially the man to prove that the super-middleweight legend is over the hill.
Ahead of the contest, Canelo Alvarez spoke with PPV.com, where he drew up an ultimate fighter, utilizing the best assets of the icons seen in boxing over the years and even included himself and a former opponent in the fantasy creation.
“Right-hand – Tommy Hearns, I think it is one of the best right-hands that I have ever seen.
Left-hand – Julio César Chávez [Sr.].
Power – [Roberto] Durán or [George] Foreman.
Footwork – Footwork, I think [Pernell] Whitaker.
Chin – I think me.
Boxing IQ – I think [Floyd] Mayweather, [he had] a very good IQ.”
Canelo Alvarez has never been knocked down as a professional despite beginning his career at 16-years-old and taking part in 64 professional bouts, facing the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev.
However, only Golovkin and Shane Mosley have had more knockout wins than Munguia when facing Alvarez, regardless of the fact that he is just 27-years-old and coupled with the apparent decline of the champion – that makes this contest an extremely intriguing one.
Munguia’s high-octane approach to fighting versus the stalking nature of Alvarez likely means that whoever dictates the pace will come out on top but with Canelo going the distance four times in a row and appearing to lose his killer instinct, Munguia may push the pace and march forward undeterred.
The showdown makes for a salivating match-up in all aspects and tops an undercard that features a WBA welterweight title clash between Eimantas Stanionis (14-0) and Gabriel Maestre (6-0-1), as well as two interim title bouts for the WBC’s featherweight and welterweight divisions respectively.
The full card will be available to watch live on DAZN and Amazon Prime pay-per-view on Saturday May 4th, as Canelo sets out to prove his greatness all over again.
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