AN AZTECAN WAR  – World Boxing Association

Saturday in what is supposed to be a real and violent war to the death between compatriots, in the ring of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, whose capacity for 20,000 fans is expected to be overflowed due to the colossal expectation generated by the bout in which the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super middleweight (168 lbs) owned by Canelo the only undisputed champion of that weight in history and who will be making the fourth defense of his titles.

The bout, in which the champion raises as a big favourite at a ratio of 4-1 to win by KO or decision, brings to mind other memorable fights between Aztec stars in the remote and more recent past, such as those between Rodolfo “Chango” Casanova and Juan Zuritay Kid Azteca at the end of the 30s; Carlos Zárate-Alfonso Zamora; José “El Huitlacoche” Medel-José “Toluco” López; the Erick “Terrible” Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera trilogy; Barrera vs Juan Manuel Márquez and Rafael Márquez-Israel Vásquez, to name but a few of dozens.

Back to Saturday’s clash in Las Vegas. Alvarez, 33, has been a professional since he was 15 years old – he made his debut on 29-10-05 with a KO4 to Abraham Gonzalez – with a record of 62-2-2, 39 knockouts. His only defeats have been to the retired Floyd Mayweather on points on 19-9-13 and to the Russian Dmitri Bivol in May two years ago, also by decision in a fight for the WBA light heavyweight belt. 

In his last 3 fights he defeated Kazakhstan’s Gennady Golovkin by close decision on 17-9-22; England’s John Ryder by UD12 on 6-5-23 and Jermell Charlo by decision in September last year.  His last KO win was against American Caleb Plant in 11 rounds in November 2021.

In this opportunity, he will face the tough puncher Mungia, 27 years old, with a record of 43-0-0, 34 KO, WBC super welterweight silver champion, an explosive puncher who is sure to step out of the ring as the new king of the 4 versions. Besides his youth, he has a height of 1.83 meters to his opponent’s 1.73 meters, with a reach of 1.82 to 1.79. In his most recent fights he dominated Gonzalo Gaston, in November 2022, Sergiy Delevyachenko and Ryder, the latter last January, by KOT3, DU and KO9, respectively.

Their records show only 3 common opponents: Jorge Juarez, Liam Smith and John Ryder. “Canelo” drew with Juarez, KO9’d Smith and beat Ryder on points, while Mungia knocked out Juarez, won a decision over Smith and dispatched Ryder in 9.

EXPERIENCE Vs. STRENGTH

The experts think it will be a fight in which the champion will deploy his experience to stop the challenger and that he will finally win, no matter how, although most of them believe it will be before the limit. But they also warn that Mungia will be a permanent danger, supported by the advantage of his younger age and his greater power, so it is not ruled out, at all, that he can overturn the odds, an outcome that would result in one of the biggest surprises of recent years in the sport of punches.

Our opinion about the probable outcome of the fight coincides with that of most of the experts, without considering ourselves as such. Only because we consider that the champion is several steps above the challenger, due to three essential, crucial factors, such as veteran experience, technical ability and power of assimilation. Let’s add that the incumbent has not fought for a little less than 7 months and that his only defeats were against Floyd Mayweather in 2007 and against the aforementioned Bivol.

Some other details about the bout: 1) Premier Boxing Champions, owned by American Al Haymon, is in charge of the organization. 2) The PPV costs $89.99, considered excessive, 3) “Canelo” is guaranteed $35 million not including his share of TV, box office and broadcast rights and Mungia will receive a minimum of no less than $2 million, besides other TV, radio and box office revenues. 4) The fight will air on Amazon Prive TV and DAZN PPV. 5) The event is subject to start at 8:00 p.m. ET with 5 fights in total. 6) Ticket prices range from $405  to $5,000. 7) Bets: For “Canelo” if you risk $500 you win $100 and for Mungia, 100 to win $500.