Canelo Alvarez Proved There Are Levels To This Game

Much was made (far too much) of Munguia’s dominant and supposedly “signature” TKO victory over John Ryder in January, especially since Ryder went the distance with Canelo when they tussled in the spring of 2023. I’ve often found the idea of comparing one fighter’s result against a common opponent to be a foolhardy gauge of how a fight will turn out when combatants get into the ring together. Look at Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Joe had beaten Ali, but then Joe got destroyed by George Foreman. The common perception at the time was that if Frazier could beat Ali and then get knocked all over the ring by Foreman, wouldn’t Foreman do the same to Ali? Well, we all know how that turned out.

And let’s just say John Ryder is a fine fighter, but he ain’t no Ali, Frazier, or Foreman. Did Canelo give his absolute best performance against Ryder? No. But he did dominate him on the scorecards. Munguia blistered Ryder, but again, folks, we are talking about John Ryder. Munguia has some other solid wins on his resume, but if we are supposed to believe that knocking out John Ryder makes for a Munguia takedown of Canelo a certainty, or judging by the fight itself, even a possibility, is to make a mistake in understanding how the fight game works.

Maybe Canelo didn’t train as hard as he should have for Ryder because he had no fear of Ryder. Maybe Ryder (despite getting easily outpointed) just had a good night before getting completely exposed by Munguia. Whatever the case, the quality of experience and previous competition loomed large Saturday over the fight’s ebb and flow. For all the deserved razzing Canelo is getting for not fighting Benavidez, Munguia is a good “name” opponent, and Canelo’s belt notches are full of A-level fighters from the tip-top of the boxing food chain: Gennadiy Golovkin (X3), Dmitry Bivol, Sergey Kovalev, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley, just to name a few.

Canelo might not have beaten all those fighters, but he knows what the A-list looks and feels like. Munguia, just look at this resume, despite boasting a gaudy 43-0 record before entering the ring against Canelo, he had never fought anyone in the stratosphere of Canelo’s finest opponents. I know Munguia was a trendy pick to win the bout before Saturday night, but I think all those prognosticators were hoping that Canelo would just get old all of a sudden. And hey, it does happen, even to the best of them (see Larry Holmes against Michael Spinks), but despite being 33, having fought a whopping 64 times since turning pro at the age of 15, Canelo did not get old all of a sudden. While it’s certainly fair to say that at his age and with the miles he’s put on his tires, that Canelo is probably just past his prime by a year or two, he’s still an extraordinary fighter whose skills have only atrophied marginally.

Munguia needed more than the marginal atrophication of Canelo; he needed major atrophication. The funny thing about the fight is I’ve always been down on Munguia. Not because he didn’t have the skill and talent to be a great fighter, but because he has been so obviously protected by his handlers. But there was nothing his handlers could do for him against Canelo. He was eating at the big boy table, and while he may have gotten some bites, Canelo ate his own meal and most of Munguia’s. The interesting thing about watching the fight though, is it made me appreciate the possibility of Munguia becoming a great fighter. When he got put down on the canvas for the first time in his professional career, he might have packed it in. You could see it in his eyes, that look of “what just happened to me?” He was shook.

But he shook that shook off and competed his heart out for eight more rounds despite having no chance to win the fight (although he did have some moments). I think there’s a real possibility with Roach’s continued training that Munguia could be a special fighter and not just a fighter with a (formerly) special record.

I honestly think, despite the loss, that it was Munguia’s career-best performance, but there are levels to this sh*t. And as Munguia found out Saturday night, he is not on the top shelf. Not yet.