Canelo Alvarez settled on facing Jaime Munguia despite a dispute with PBC that almost saw the Mexican superstar go back to DAZN. The incident stemmed from Canelo wanting to follow through with his promise to fight Jermall Charlo, which former promoter Oscar De La Hoya says was a disaster waiting to happen.
Speaking to Marcos Villegas, De La Hoya outlined how the Canelo vs Munguia fight occurred. He also stated that he feels the clash is a change of the guard, similar to when Miguel Cotto fought Canelo.
“A lot was going on with PBC, Amazon, and whether Canelo was going to go back to DAZN,” De La Hoya told FightHub TV. “We all literally came together as one big happy family and made this happen.
Canelo Alvarez vs Charlo was a disaster
“Obviously, Canelo wasn’t going to fight [Jermall] Charlo [due to his outside-of-the-ring problems]. That would have been a disaster, and Canelo wouldn’t fight Benavidez for some strange reason, I don’t know.
“But our plan worked. We used some of the psychology and Jaime Munguia got the Canelo fight. So we’re all happy, we are excited. This is the first time two Mexicans have fought at this level [for a while]. The Chavez Jr. thing [was up and down]. Jaime isn’t, he’s an undefeated, serious fighter who wants to become great and wants to become a world champion again.
“Jaime Munguia’s career was built at this moment, and I think he’s going to seize it. I really do. I mean, I love the history of boxing. You take a look at when [Miguel] Cotto fought Canelo. I think they were the same age [as Canelo and Munguia are now]. It was the passing of the torch. This is almost similar to Canelo and Munguia.
Canelo vs Munguia
“We’ll see. Canelo is a great fighter. There’s no doubt about that. We feel our fighter will be better that night.”
Charlo is no man’s land after returning to training recently and looking out of sorts. Options remain limited for the WBC middleweight champion, including the doubt of him ever making 160 again.
The World Boxing Council is expected to strip Jermell Charlo’s brother or give Jermall the chance to relinquish the belt. If he then shows stability moving forward, there’s no reason why the Canelo vs Charlo fight cannot be reignited in September 2024 or next year.
All eyes are on Canelo vs Munguia in Las Vegas on May 4. Tickets for the T-Mobile Arena event are already flying out the door.
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