Fans and fighters from across the combat sports world are reacting to Canelo Alvarez’s dominant decision win over Jaime Munguia.
Whilst the pre-fight headlines might have been dominated by the ongoing feud with Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo Alvarez continued to write his own legacy as he dispatched Jaime Munguia in impressive fashion from Las Vegas.
Canelo Alvarez earns unanimous decision win over Munguia
Canelo Alvarez proved once again why he remains the face of boxing as he added yet another convincing title defense to his dominant career, earning a unanimous decision victory over Jaime Munguia last night at the T-Mobile Arena.
Whilst the challenger did have some early success thanks to a flurry of punches getting around the guard of Canelo in the opening rounds, the momentum of the fight certainly shifted after Munguia was dropped in the fourth – and from that point, the rest was history.
Speaking after the 117-110, 116-111, and 115-112 unanimous decision victory, Canelo praised the grit and determination of his opponent:
“This win means a lot, I’m glad that I gave him this opportunity…Munguia is a great guy and a great champion. He’s going to have a great career. I’m very proud that all the Mexicans are here watching us.”
UFC fighters and professional boxers react to Canelo’s statement win
Whilst the focus of the MMA fanbase was firmly fixed on Rio de Janeiro and UFC 301, that isn’t to say that fighters from across the world of combat sports weren’t watching with bated breath as Canelo first dropped, then out-pointed Munguia in Las Vegas.
Former light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight king Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, from one combat superstar to another, hailed Canelo:
“Good for him, what a legend,” adding, “I always find it hilarious when he starts cursing people out in English.”
Boxing superstar turned MMA athlete Claressa Shields stated that “Munguia fought harder than most of Canelo’s opponents” before adding, “Good scrap…But the king still reigns!”
Fan favorite UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney also noted that “Munguai came to fight holy s***” and as Canelo started to stretch his lead into the latter stages of the contest:
“This Canelo vs Munguia is delivering might be fight of the year for boxing.”
Combat sports legend Teddy Atlas shared, “Even if Munguia was able to win, is there anyone who thinks he’d get the decision in this business.”
Elsewhere, Jake Paul posted a reaction video where he was asked about potentially facing Canelo in the boxing ring:
“Yeah, well he’s got to come and talk to us, I’m going to get the cruiserweight belt and then Canelo can come and see me.”
Canelo responds to speculation that David Benavidez will be next
Unsurprisingly, most of the post-fight discussion around what should be next for Canelo has been centered around a highly anticipated clash with David Benavidez.
“I don’t know right now, I’m going to rest, I’m going to enjoy my family. But you know, if the money is right, I can fight right now. I don’t give a s***,” said Alvarez.
“At this point, everybody’s asking for everything, right? When I fought Lara, Charlo, Miguel Angel Cotto, Mayweather, Billie Joe Saunders, everybody say I don’t want to fight them. And I fought all of them. So right now, I can ask whatever I want and I can do whatever I want.”
Speaking with MMA journalist The Schmo, Benavidez himself stated that he still believes a super-fight with Canelo will be made in the near future:
“To be honest with you, I’m still keeping my hopes up high – I feel like this fight definitely will happen because it’s just too big, it’s too big to leave this fight on the table and not make it happen.”
“I definitely do think it’s going to happen, I just got to keep doing my job, look impressive and it will definitely come,” said Benavidez.