Canelo Alvarez doesn’t seem to want any part of David Benavidez. But Jaime Munguia says he does. Going into next Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo rumble with superstar Canelo, Munguia has said that, should he get the win, he would certainly be open to having a “great fight” with Benavidez soon afterwards.
As fight fans know, Benavidez has been calling and calling for a fight with Canelo, to no avail. Benavidez will move up to the 175-pound division in June, but you can bet that if Munguia did defeat Canelo and took all his 168-pound belts, Benavidez would drop back down for what could be a massive and exciting fight. We cannot get too ahead of ourselves for obvious reasons – Munguia has to beat Canelo on May 4, and this would be an upset victory for the unbeaten 27-year-old.
However, there are a good few many people who feel Munguia, 43-0(34) could prove to be too young, too fresh and too hungry for the soon to turn 34 year old Canelo, and that it will be a classic ‘changing of the guard’ in Vegas next Saturday. Oscar De La Hoya is one of these people, but of course, he would be, for two reasons: he cannot stand Canelo, and he promotes Munguia.
De La Hoya wants to see his charge fight Benavidez after he upsets and unseats Canelo, and Munguia said to Fight Hub TV that he wants the fight himself.
“Jaime will be the next guy. He’ll be the man. It’ll be a passing of the torch [when he beats Canelo],” De La Hoya said. “We’ve had Canelo for some time, and he’s in the fourth quarter of his career. Now is the time for the new blood and a new fighter to take the reigns.”
Munguia spoke about a possible fight with Benavidez:
“If both of us keep winning and we both keep doing our thing, it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Benavidez would be a great fight,” Munguia said. “I’m here to fight against the best. I see a lot of people are happy to see me fight against Canelo. Whatever is going on [between Canelo and] David Benavidez, I’m not aware of it – and I honestly don’t care. I am focused on myself and preparing for the fight.”
No fighter should ever look too far ahead, as we know, but Munguia against Benavidez would be a great one to look forward to if it did happen. Imagine, the young Munguia knocking off Canelo and then going on to face the feared fighter the way Canelo would not!
But again, let’s not get too carried away. Can Munguia beat Canelo, or does the future Hall of Famer remind the younger man who is the boss next weekend?