Thursday’s, in this corner of the Universo Pugilistico, are all about my sack– my bulging, bulbous, aching sack– and the gooey, salty truth contained within. So…sit back, close your eyes, pull back your hair, and get ready for this week’s money shot of wisdom. This week we have comments/questions regarding Canelo-Plant, Canelo’s ATG status, and Jaime Munguia.
Canelo, ATG?
Hi Paul.
This is a short and quick one and I’ll go with your answer because I’ve been following you for years now and I trust your insight. Is Canelo Alvarez an all-time great? Will this Plant fight put him over the top. Is he already there? Is he that far away? Will he ever get to ATG status if he’s not already there or not that close?
Best wishes.
– Simon
Hey Simon.
I’m kind of the wrong person to ask about this ATG stuff (or pound-for-pound stuff as well) because I tend to be way conservative and pragmatic when it comes to these mythical designations. But, if I were to go by what I see as modern day standards, I’d say that Canelo certainly qualifies by now for “modern day great” status and is probably reaching the doorway of all-time great recognition. He’s certainly got more (and better) names on his resume that guys like Golovkin and Lomachenko, who’ve been fawned over as modern day greats.
As for me, personally? Like I said, I lean conservative when it comes to these kinds of things. I’d be willing to talk ATG after a couple more wins, against opposition he’s not heavily favored to beat. In the present tense, however, he’s no. 1. No doubt.
I don’t think beating Plant will do much towards putting him over the top when it comes to his legacy, but becoming the first fully-unified super middleweight champ WILL be a high-ranking bullet point on his list of achievements.
No Chance Plant?
Hey Magno.
I read your Notes from the Boxing Underground and I see the logic in you thinking that Caleb Plant has a chance against Canelo, but I think that’s just paper logic. It makes sense on paper and not in practice because Canelo has such a monumental edge in big fight experience and in delivering under high pressure situations. Everybody saw Plant get worn down by Uzcategui and fade under the pressure down the stretch. Plant has never seen anything even remotely as intense as what Canelo is going to bring him. I wouldn’t say that any fighter has zero chance in any fight, especially in a champ vs. champ unification, but Plant’s chances are as close to zero as reasonable. It’s going to be a major accomplishment for him to just make it to the scorecards.
– Juan Alberto from San Diego
Hey Juan.
When I look at upcoming matchups, I always tend to take the case for the underdog and look at what he COULD do to pull of the upset. I find that more interesting than mulling over ways he’s probably going to lose. Maybe that makes me a bit more underdog-friendly when it comes to predictions for big fights.
Never did I say, though, that Plant would upset Canelo. All I said was that, when it comes to characteristics that have historically given Canelo problems– movement, hand speed, angles, outside game, general craftiness– Plant ticks off all those boxes.
But there’s a big leap between what someone COULD do and what they WILL do under the tremendous pressure facing them on fight night. This is, by far, the biggest fight of Plant’s career and we simply can’t know right now how he’ll respond to that pressure. For Canelo, this fight isn’t even in his top 10 biggest fights.
As Plant said, however, every fighter eventually fights that one big fight, where odds are against him and the pressure is on. He’s right and that’s why we’ll see what’s what when the opening bell rings. I read Plant as someone, unlike Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders in recent Canelo fights, who won’t easily wilt under the pressure. That’s why I’m higher on his chances.
Still, like I said, I wouldn’t put any money on Caleb.
Munguia: Fact or Fiction?
Hi Paul.
I got to say, I might not always agree with what you say, but I’m always entertained and it always gets my boxing brain working.
Anyway, I know that everyone’s got their eyes on the Saul Alvarez-Caleb Plant fight, but I’m fixated on the Jaime Munguia-Gabriel Rosado fight the week after. I know Rosado is battle weary and well past his prime, but I think he’ll give Munguia a real fight. In a lot of ways, this will be the biggest test of Munguia’s career.
That leads me to my questions for you. What do you think of Munguia and do you see the raw material of something special in him? A lot of smart boxing fans around me sing his praises like crazy, but I’m on the fence about the kid. What’s your take?
– John
Hey John.
It’s crazy that it’s already been over three years and eight fights since Munguia made his big splash by steamrolling Sadam Ali to win the WBO junior middleweight title. That win totally obscured the reality of who Munguia was as a fighter and where he was developmentally. That fight really was a case of Ali being a small junior middleweight with a spotty chin against a really big junior middleweight with a big punch and youthful confidence.
His subsequent struggles with Liam Smith two months later brought his entire team back to reality when it came to who the big Mexican kid was and what he was ready for. From that point forward, they matched him lighter and against styles better suited to his level.
Unfortunately, Munguia hasn’t really developed all that much since he was that 21-year-old kid matched against Ali. He’s still pretty much who he was then– Big, strong, and full of youthful enthusiasm. It remains to be seen what he can do against a skilled boxer and, also, what he can do against a high-end opponent in the middleweight division, where his punching power may be slightly less potent than it was at 154.
But Gabe Rosado shouldn’t be that guy who drags him into deep waters. As you mentioned, Rosado’s got a lot of mileage on him and, also, his best days were at junior middleweight. He’ll bring war to Munguia, but I don’t think he beats him.
Actually, for Munguia, facing a tough, brave warrior who’ll FIGHT is probably a plus for him. It fits right into what he does best and swerves around his deficiencies against boxers with more nuanced skill sets.
Overall, for me, I’m nowhere near as high on Munguia as I used to be. Right now, unless he develops a lot more as a fighter, he looks like a placeholder, waiting to be knocked off by a smarter, more-complete contender.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.