Any Canelo fight is appointment viewing for boxing fans, but when his largely unheralded opponent is being given a puncher's chance of pulling off a colossal upset, it's worth paying extra attention. With the fight just a few hours away, though, some pundits are predicting an upset for Saul Alvarez despite this picked as a relatively safe one for the more experienced boxer.
Undefeated Jaime Munguia might not have anything close to the lofty reputation of his opponent, but he's got knockout power in spades. The 27-year-old has dropped 34 of his 43 opponents, a far cry from Canelo, who in recent years has grown adept at going the distance and outscoring them.
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Munguia won't want to – and almost certainly won't be able to – box the undisputed super middleweight champion on his own terms, so the onus is on him to put that firepower to use and hurt him early on.
Need to swot up before the action gets underway? Read on as we break down all you need to know before watching Canelo vs Munguia, from the fight itself to the timings, odds, card and free live coverage.
Who is Canelo?
Saul Alvarez is a Mexican boxer who's better known by his nickname "Canelo", meaning cinnamon – a reference to his red hair. For the best part of a decade, the 33-year-old has been widely considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
He's won world titles across four weight divisions: light middleweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and super middleweight. He also stands alone as the only boxer to become undisputed champion at super middleweight.
However, he can be beaten. He was taught an infuriating lesson by then WBA (Super) light middleweight champion, WBC and Ring magazine welterweight champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, and his brief return to light heavyweight last year resulted in a defeat to WBA (Super) champion Dmitry Bivol.
Who is Jaime Munguia?
Jaime Munguia is a boxer's boxer. He's undefeated and has been extremely active, racking up 43 fights – and victories – at the age of 27, yet before this showdown with Canelo was booked, his reputation was more or less confined to hardcore boxing circles.
The Mexican, who's held the WBO light middleweight, WBC Silver super middleweight and WBO Inter-Continental middleweight titles, was slated to fight Gennady Golovkin in 2018 but it didn't materialize, and he's spent the intervening years knocking out all and sundry. Thirty-four of Munguia's 43 victories have come by knockout, which is 79%.
However, that means he's only ever had to go the distance once in his career, against Sergiy Derevyanchenko last year.
Canelo vs Munguia odds: who is the favorite to win?
The bookies are backing Canelo to make another successful title defence in Vegas tonight, with the 33-year-old the -600 favorite. Munguia is priced at +425 at the time of writing.
Where is Canelo vs Munguia being held?
The fight is being staged at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a 20,000-capacity arena that's home to reining NHL champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.
What is the Canelo vs Munguia tale of the tape?
When does Canelo vs Munguia start?
We have full details on what time the Canelo vs Munguia fight starts worldwide on our dedicated article but here is the general information:
The main event is scheduled to begin at 8pm ET / 5pm ET today, Saturday, May 4, which is 1am BST / 10am AEST on Sunday, May 5, for fans based in the UK and Australia.
However, Canelo and Munguia won't make their way to the ring until the three previous fights have taken place.
They're expected to make their ring walks at approximately 11pm ET / 8pm PT / 4am BST / 1pm AEST, but exact timings are extremely difficult to predict with any degree of accuracy.
Who is on the Canelo vs Munguia card?
Alongside the much anticipated main event, the card features three other bouts, each of which has title implications.
- Saul Alvarez (c) vs Jaime Munguia (IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO super middleweight titles)
- Mario Barrios (c) vs Fabian Maidana (WBC interim world welterweight title)
- Brandon Figueroa (c) vs Jessie Magdaleno (WBC interim world featherweight title)
- Eimantas Stanionis (c) vs Gabriel Maestre (WBA regular welterweight title)
Is Canelo vs Munguia on TV anywhere?
Streaming service DAZN holds the rights to the fight in almost every market globally, with one very notable exception.
Canelo vs Munguia is free-to-air on Azteca 7 in Mexico.
You can use a VPN, such as NordVPN, to unblock your usual service.
What is Cinco de Mayo?
Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo (May 5) and Mexican Independence Day (September 16) are not one and the same.
Cinco de Mayo instead marks Mexico's victory over Napoleon III's Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Puebla would fall a year later, which led to Austrian archduke Maximilian I being instituted as the Emperor of Mexico.
However, the Mexican Liberals would overthrow the Mexican Conservatives and French colonizers in 1967.
