Tag: ‘Canelo’ Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez drops, beats overmatched Jaime Munguia to retain 168-pound title

Jaime Munguia did his best to hang in there with Canelo Alvarez, who was simply too much for the young challenger.

It’s still [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag]’s time.

The undisputed 168-pound champion dropped and defeated a determined, but overmatched [autotag]Jaime Munguia[/autotag] by a unanimous decision to retain his title in an all-Mexican battle Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The official scores were 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112. Boxing Junkie also had it 117-110 for Alvarez, nine rounds to three.

“I take my time,” said Alvarez, 33. “… I have a lot of experience. Jaime Munguia is a great fighter, he’s strong, he’s smart. I take my time. I have 12 rounds to win he fight and I did.

“I did really good, and I feel proud about it.”

The fight followed a pattern from the early rounds on. Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) threw more punches than Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) but landed at a relatively low percentage, a result of the champion’s superb defensive abilities.

Meanwhile, Alvarez, who values accuracy over volume, consistently landed the harder, cleaner shots. He seemed to pick the challenger apart at times.

One of Alvarez’s clean shots came in Round 4, resulting in the most dramatic moment of the fight. He landed a perfect, head-snapping right uppercut that put Munguia on the canvas for the first time in his career and had viewers wondering whether they were about to see an early knockout.

Munguia wouldn’t allow that to be the beginning of the end, however. He continued to fight his heart out, staying busier than Alvarez and finding the target on many occasions.

The problem for the younger fighter was that the pattern continued until the final bell, Munguia connecting on one in four punches while Alvarez landed almost one of two. And the latter’s punches were more punishing.

According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 234 of 536 punches overall, 43.7%. He connected on 49.7% of his power shots, a number that makes it extremely difficult for an opponent to win.

Munguia landed 177 of 663 punches, 25.6%, which isn’t disgraceful given the opponent but not high enough to win the fight.

“He’s strong, but he’s a little slow,” Alvarez said of Munguia. “I can see every punch. Sometimes he got me because I get so confident. But, you know, like I say .. I have this kind of experience. That’s why I’m the best.”

The best?

“I’m the best fighter right now, for sure,” he said.

Munguia might not dispute that.

The 27-year-old from Tijuana was proud of his effort but he seemed to recognize that he didn’t do enough to have his hand raised.

“I think at the beginning I was winning some of those rounds,” he said through a translator.” It was going well. I let my hands go. But he’s a fighter with a lot of experience, obviously.

“Unfortunately he beat me. The loss hurts.”

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MAY 04: Canelo Alvarez knocks down Jaime Munguia in their super middleweight championship title fight at T-Mobile Arena on May 04, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

What’s next for Alvarez? The fans would suggest longtime 168-pound rival David Benavidez, who some believe the champion is avoiding.

Benavidez is scheduled to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175 pounds on the Gervonta Davis-Frank Martin card on June 15 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

However, he made it clear in an interview before the fight on Saturday that he’d be more than happy to move back down to 168 to take on the undisputed champion if things go well against Gvozdyk.

Alvarez said it could happen if he’s paid enough. And, then again, maybe not.

“I don’t know right now,” he said. “I’m going to rest, I’m going to enjoy my family. … But if the money is not right, I can fight right now. I don’t give a s—t.”

It’s only a matter of money?

“Yeah,” he said. “… At this point everybody is asking for everything, right? When I fought with [Erislandy] Lara, [Austin] Trout, Miguel Angel Cotto, Mayweather, … Billy Joe Saunders. They said I didn’t want to fight them and I fought all of them.

“Right now I can ask for whatever I want, and I can do whatever I want.”

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Canelo Alvarez goes off on ‘f*cking p*ssy’ Oscar De La Hoya, separated mid-press conference

Things got heated between Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] and [autotag]Oscar De La Hoya[/autotag] had to be separated by security at Wednesday’s press conference for Alvarez’s title fight against [autotag]Jaime Munguia[/autotag].

De La Hoya, who promotes Munguia under Golden Boy, took several shots at Alvarez during his introductory speech at their pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas, claiming that Alvarez was built by Golden Boy and that he’s responsible for his rise in boxing – something Alvarez didn’t take kindly.

“You don’t feel what you’re saying, motherf*cker,” Alvarez told his former promoter. “You have to read it. They write it for you. They write it for you, motherf*cker. They have to write for him what he’s going to say to this f*cking p*ssy. You don’t write anything, you idiot.

“You don’t do sh*t. You’re a dumbass, that’s what you are. You’re a dumbass. There’s people doing everything behind the scenes. You’re just the image. You’re an idiot, motherf*cker.”

Alvarez stood up from his chair and approached De La Hoya, but was almost immediately stopped by security, who deescalated the situation.

Alvarez fights Mungia this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on DAZN Pay-Per-View. Alavrez, arguably the biggest star in boxing, defends his undisputed 168-pound championship against Mungia, who’s unbeaten his career.

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Jake Paul vs. Canelo Alvarez: Completely far-fetched, or is the money too good?

“Mismatch” isn’t a strong enough word to describe a fight between Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez, but that doesn’t mean the idea is crazy.

[autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag]?

Anyone who follows boxing knows that such a matchup would be absurdly one-sided, a crude, relative newcomer against an all-time boxing great. Mismatch isn’t a strong enough word to describe that pairing.

Paul is as aware of that fact as you are. Still, the YouTuber-turned-boxer-and-promoter has repeatedly called out the Mexican star.

Is he nuts? Far from it. He’s an astute businessman who sees an opportunity to make good money, which is what Paul’s boxing career has been all about.

Oh, he has trained diligently in an effort to learn the fundamentals of the sport and seems to have been blessed with natural punching power, which has allowed him to start his career 8-1 (5 KOs) against weak opposition.

However, his principal strength is self promotion. That’s how he has been able to earn more than all but a few boxers in spite of his inexperience.

So no one should be surprised when he calls out potential opponents who are well out of his league, including the 33-year-old Alvarez.

“I think it will happen at some point,” Paul told reporters in the lead up to his fight against Ryan Bourland on the Amanda Serrano-Nina Meinke card Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico (DAZN), “I’ve been talking about that for a couple of years now.

“It makes sense. He’s coming to the end of his career where he’s gonna want to make a lot of money.”

Jake Paul punches Andre August at Caribe Royale Orlando on December 15, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice, Getty Images for CELCIUS)

Paul, 27, also rolled a lot of eyes when he described himself as the “new Floyd Mayweather.” That’s a stretch on more than one level. Mayweather was the best fighter of his generation and earned around $1 billion, according to some estimates.

At the same time, Paul’s comment is understandable in one sense: Like Mayweather, many boxers and other combat sports stars want to fight Paul because of the payday they would stand to earn.

Retired Hall of Famer Carl Froch is only the latest big-name boxer to express interest in facing Paul.

A reporter asked Paul whether he believes Froch would actually fight him.

“Of course he would, he wants payday, of course,” Paul said. “All these guys would fight me, I’m the new Floyd Mayweather in the sport. Seriously. Because I make my own decisions, I know how to get the business contracts done, I do the biggest PPVs, and I’m my own boss, so I can move and go wherever I want.

“So yes, I am the new Floyd in this sport, and yes, everybody wants to fight me.”

“Everyone” is an exaggeration, but you get his point.

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Dana White rips Showtime’s ‘horrible f*cking production’ of Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo

UFC CEO Dana White remains heavily unimpressed with Showtime’s production of its boxing events.

LAS VEGAS – UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] remains heavily unimpressed with Showtime’s production of its boxing events.

This past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, undisputed 168-pound champion [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] (60-2-2, 39 KOs) dominated Jermell Charlo for a one-sided decision win.

Although White has a lot of respect for Alvarez, he didn’t hold back when bashing Showtime’s production of his fight, which he called “embarrassing,” as he continues a war of words with executive Stephen Espinoza.

“You know what I think of Showtime as a company: There’s no secret,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Tuesday’s DWCS 65 post-fight news conference. “Again, I could go on for days about their production on Saturday. They tried to do it better, I noticed. Showtime, I noticed you tried to do it better, but you guys suck.”

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White compared Showtime’s production to Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 65 event at the UFC Apex, lauding his team for their effective use of replay.

“Let me give you an example,” White said. “This is how good our production is. Did you see (Anthony) Pettis there tonight? So the kid (Gadzhiyasulov) that threw the Pettis kicks off the fence, there was three seconds left in the round, right? Three seconds left in the round. I picked up my big red phone and I called the truck, I said, ‘Put those Pettis kicks in the package.’ No problem. Hung up the phone, three seconds left in the round, they put them in there and they showed Pettis. Now, if any of you were home watching that fight that night on Showtime, they were trying to do more replays.

“Their replays were so bad, there was a set of replays where, in both replays, nobody landed a f*cking punch. So, then you’ve got the commentators trying to talk about what’s going on and they were terrible replays. When you know production – they’re a f*cking major network. They’re supposed to be anyway, Showtime, Viacom, whatever. That’s the product that you’re putting on when you know what you’re looking for and you know what you’re talking about in the production world? There’s nobody that can disagree with me that Showtime is a horrible, horrible f*cking production team.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 65.

Canelo Alvarez delivers vintage performance, easily outpoints Jermell Charlo

Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo went 12 rounds but there was no question who would win when the final horn sounded.

[autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] looked a lot like Canelo Alvarez.

The undisputed 168-pound champion, who many suggested was in decline after three consecutive subpar performances, turned back the clock by dominating [autotag]Jermell Charlo[/autotag] from start to finish to win a one-sided decision Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The official scores were 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109. Boxing Junkie also scored it 118-109 for Alvarez, 10 rounds to two.

What a difference good health makes.

“I’m a strong fighter,” said Alvarez, who blamed his struggles on an injured left wrist that is now healed, “all the time, with all the fighters. I’m a strong man. This Canelo, nobody can beat this Canelo.”

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Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) was knocked from his pound-for-pound perch by 175-pound champ Dmitry Bivol, who outpointed him in May of last year. Then he gave so-so performances in victories over Gennadiy Golovkin and John Ryder.

That’s why many opined that 18 years as a professional were beginning to catch up with him. His response to that? Wait and see what he could do injury free.

We saw on Saturday.

Alvarez applied overwhelming pressure on the highly respected Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) from the second round on, landing more than enough punishing blows to the head and body to win rounds and prevent Charlo from mounting an attack of his own.

Charlo, the undisputed 154-pound champ who moved up two divisions for the fight, tried to move and pepper Alvarez with quick, sometimes hard blows to keep him at bay but he had neither the punch volume nor the power to earn the stronger man’s respect.

Alvarez put Charlo down in Round 7, when a straight right dazed the challenger and forced him to take a knee.

Charlo survived that punch and proved to be both durable and clever enough to last the entire 12 rounds against a bigger, stronger man, which many believed would be difficult.

The challenger, an excellent technician, was adept at avoiding clean punches to the head, aside from a handful of them. And he took everything Alvarez managed to land, including 42 hard shots to the body, according to CompuBox.

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Alvarez was asked about his body work. His response made it clear that he’s as passionate about the sport as he has ever been, an indication that he has now put his struggles behind him.

“I worked on that in the gym for three months in the mountains without my family, without my friends,” he said. “I still love boxing. I still love boxing. I still love boxing so f—ing much. Boxing is my life.

“Boxing made me the person I am today. That’s why I love it so much.”

And what about his failure to stop Charlo? Not an issue.

“No no no,” he said. “I feel great. That’s why we fight 12 rounds. If I don’t get the knockout, I get 12 rounds to show I’m the best, I’m the better fighter.”

Alvarez, 33, can now look forward to his next challenge with all the confidence he had when he climbed to the pinnacle of the sport.

He was asked whether he expected to fight next on Cinco de Mayo weekend, which has become his tradition. He seemed to indicate that that is the plan. Then he was asked who he’d like to fight, which sparked his passion again.

“We’ll see who’s next,” he said.

“David Benavidez?” he was asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t f—ing care,” he responded, his way of reiterating that no one can take down this version of him.

Charlo?

The proud Texan obviously wasn’t pleased afterward but he also wasn’t despondent.

“I just felt like it wasn’t me in there,” he said. “I don’t make excuses for myself. So it is what it is. I take my punches and roll with it. This is boxing. Hey, you win some, you lose some. … Truthfully you can feel the difference in the weight. I jumped up 14 pounds.

“I’m undisputed in my division. I was daring to be great right now. You fall short sometimes. You have just keep pushing. My road don’t stop right here.”

Indeed, it doesn’t. He said he plans on moving back down to 154, at which he expects to face the winner of the Oct. 14 Tim Tszyu-Brian Mendoza fight in defense of his titles. He also said he’d like to pick on a smaller man for a change.

“I want to fight [welterweight champ] Terence Crawford,” he said. “I could fight Terence Crawford in my weight division. I know he’s somewhere around this joint. Let him fight Errol Spence or whatever they got going. Get that out of the way.

“I’m waiting. I’m about to get right back into the gym.”

Win, lose, big things lie ahead.

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Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo: Best photos from Las Vegas

Check out the best photos from Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo, which took place Saturday in Las Vegas.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jermell Charlo[/autotag], the high profile championship boxing bout which took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (photos via USA Today, Getty Images).

Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo live round-by-round updates, official results

Follow along for live results from Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo in Las Vegas, courtesy of Boxing Junkie.

Undisputed super middleweight champion [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] is scheduled to defend his titles against [autotag]Jermell Charlo[/autotag] on pay-per-view Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The featured bouts on the card begin at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the show.

Boxing Junkie will post round-by-round analysis and the result of the main event immediately after it ends, as well as post the results of other featured bouts. Click here to find out.

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Canelo Alvarez has owned American opponents. Will Jermell Charlo be different?

Canelo Alvarez’s dominance over Americans has shaped his legacy, and Jermell Charlo could be next to add to it.

Will [autotag]Jermell Charlo[/autotag] be just another American victim of [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag]?

The Mexican star, who is scheduled to defend his 168-pound championship against Charlo on pay-per-view Saturday in Las Vegas, has fought 13 opponents from the United States and has beaten all but one of them, Floyd Mayweather.

Alvarez has faced more fellow Mexicans (22-0-1) than those from any other country. However, his dominance over Americans – as well as Britons (8-0) – has shaped his legacy.

The then-23-year-old 154-pound titleholder took a big risk when he decided to fight Mayweather, already an all-time great at the time, but none of “Money’s” countrymen have been able to take him down.

Alvarez fought a few obscure Americans early in his career but three consecutive victories over elite Yanks in 2012 and 2013 helped lift him to star status, a one-sided decision over future Hall of Famer Shane Mosley, a fifth-round knockout of Josesito Lopez and a clear decision over then-unbeaten Austin Trout.

Trout was impressed, saying, “He was better than me. I have no excuses.”

Then came the setback against Mayweather, who outclassed his young foe. Judge C.J. Ross went off the rails, scoring the one-sided fight 114-114. The other two cards came closer to reflecting reality, 117-111 and 116-112 for Mayweather.

Alvarez’s first loss hurt his pride but he came to look back at it as a valuable learning experience.

“That fight really helped me to improve and move forward in my career. So I keep looking ahead,” he told ESPN Deportes a few years after the fight.

The next American he faced became the victim of arguably his most spectacular knockout, James Kirkland. Alvarez put him down three times, twice in Round 3, before knocking him unconscious with a vicious straight right in that round in 2015.

That stoppage and his one-punch stoppage of Englishman Amir Khan are the best examples of Alvarez’s destructive power.

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He next faced an opponent from the U.S. four years later, when he battled the capable Daniel Jacobs in a 160-pound title-unification fight. Alvarez didn’t dominate Jacobs but he won a clear unanimous decision, one of his most impressive victories in recent years given Jacobs’ ability.

His final American opponent was Caleb Plant in November 2021, his last fight before his stunning unanimous decision loss to talented 175-pound champ Dmitry Bivol and perceived decline.

The slick Plant boxed well much of the fight but Alvarez gradually closed the distance on him, wore him down and stopped him in the 11th round, which turned out to be the superstar’s most recent knockout.

Could Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) be Alvarez’s 40th stoppage victim?

If Alvarez’s subpar performances in his recent fights can be attributed to injuries and he’s healthy now, as he claims, Charlo could be in trouble. If he struggled because he has simply lost a step, Charlo could join Mayweather as the only Americans to take down the face of boxing.

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Best photos: Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo ceremonial weigh-ins, faceoff

Check out the best photos from the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo outdoor faceoff in Las Vegas.

Check out the best photos from Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoff between [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] and [autotag]Jermell Charlo[/autotag] at Toshiba Plaza in Las Vegas (via Getty Images).

Canelo Alvarez, Jermell Charlo make identical weight before intense faceoff

Canelo Alvarez vs. Jemerll Charlo, one of the biggest boxing matches of the year, takes place Saturday in Las Vegas.

The official weights certainly don’t indicate a difference in size.

Super middleweight champion [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] and [autotag]Jermell Charlo[/autotag] both weighed in Friday at 167.4 pounds – 0.6 below the division limit — for their pay-per-view fight Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

That’s about 12 pounds more than Charlo, the 154-pound champ, has weighed for any fight in his career and about 15 more than he did for his most recent bout. He’s moving up two divisions to challenge Alvarez.

Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) also hasn’t taken part in a fight of this magnitude, which might’ve been reflected in his demeanor at the relatively uneventful weigh-in outside T-Mobile, at Toshiba Plaza.

He rocked from side to side when he was being interviewed after he stepped off the scale as hundreds of mostly pro-Alvarez fans looked on. That might’ve been a product of both nerves and excitement.

“Every time I step into the ring you know what time it is,” he said. “No matter how they have him hyped up – he’s popular here – I love it, I enjoy it. … Hey, it’s time. I’m a bad motherf*cker.”

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Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) was more at ease because he has taken part in many high-profile fights. This is his 16th fight in Las Vegas.

The Mexican star was asked whether his perceived size advantage will be a significant factor. After all, Charlo is not accustomed to being hit by or hitting an opponent who has shared the ring with bigger men.

Alvarez dismissed the notion.

“I think it’s going to be a great fight,” he said. “The size factor doesn’t matter. I did that (fought at a higher weight) before and I felt good. It’ll be a great fight. I’m ready for everything.”

This story initially appeared on Boxing Junkie, another USA Today property.