Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia will face each other at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, which could add another chapter to the book of battles between top Mexican fighters. This fight, in particular, has created a lot of interest since it is being contested for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
Recently, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said that the fight between Alvarez and Munguia could begin a memorable trilogy.
“Erik Morales with [Marco Antonio] Barrera, Rafael Marquez with Israel Vazquez, ‘El Puas’ [Ruben Olivares] with Chucho Castillo, [Carlos] Zarate-[Alfonso] Zamora, which was only one fight,” noted Sulaiman during the presentation of the special Tamaulipas Belt that the WBC will award to the winner of the fight. “There are so many battles represented between Mexican boxers that it is difficult to choose one. But today we can start with the Canelo-Munguia trilogy because it has all the elements to make it so.”
It is difficult to think about a trilogy when we still don’t know what we will see in their first fight, and mentioning the word “battle” seems even more adventurous since Alvarez is a -550 favorite per ESPN BET.
Throughout history, we have witnessed great fights between Mexican fighters. The first that comes to mind was Raul “Raton” Macías against Fili Nava with two bouts that went the distance in 1954. Also unforgettable is the incredible rivalry that led former boxing gym teammates, Carlos Zarate, 25 at the time, and Alfonso Zamora, 23, both undefeated bantamweight champions, to face each other in 1977.
The great Julio Cesar Chavez built his legendary career from a tough battle against Mario “Azabache” Martinez to win the WBC junior lightweight title in 1984.
But what have been the great recent battles between two top Mexican fighters?
