The Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia fight might be just a month away. However, ghosts of the past continue to hang around. The main protagonist, Canelo Alvarez, remains the favorite target, it seems. Why? Many believe that the undisputed super middleweight champion has been unfair to his position as one of the ‘faces of boxing’. It is primarily on account of his reported refusal to fight the WBC mandatory, David Benavidez. Yes, a clash with Munguia makes for a good fight. Nevertheless, there’s a unanimous agreement that it’s nowhere near what a match with Benavidez would have offered.

After calling out Alvarez several times, ‘The Mexican Monster’ has now moved up a division to stake a claim at an interim title in the light heavyweight class. But still, the hot debate persists. Finding a place in ProBox TV‘s ‘Deep Waters’ episode, the issue took an interesting turn. One of the panelists, former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi, in a scathing criticism, slammed Canelo Alvarez. To that purpose, he invoked ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali‘s memories.

Canelo Alvarez: ‘The Greatest’ Legacy to Look Forward To

“Imagine Muhammad Ali did that. Imagine Muhammad Ali acted like Canelo. Can you imagine Muhammad Ali would’ve acted like Canelo?” asked Paulie Malignaggi. The ‘Magic Man’ reasoned that Muhammad Ali fought all his opponents when they were in their prime. As a result, boxing became such a big sport in the 1980s. He said, “Boxing was all over network TV with major, major ratings; why? Because the previous generation Ali did what Ali did.”

It’s not that he never faced defeat. He faced quite a few. But the fear of a loss never prevented him from taking a risk. So even when he moved out of his prime, he would go after boxers who were still in theirs. Malignaggi gave the example of the Ali-George Foreman ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight. Then there was the loss to Ken Norton. Nevertheless, Ali always came back from a setback.

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“But the way he did it is the way a champion does. He was not bigger than the sport, okay, did he he was he was, and he didn’t act that way. And later on, what everybody thanks him everybody looks at him as the greatest of all time for multiple, multiple reasons,” said the former welterweight champion.

According to the ‘Magic Man’, a boxer standing at that level needs to take the responsibility to conduct himself the way the great Muhammad Ali did. It speaks of high impropriety if a champion resorts to taking advantage of such a privileged position and not giving a contender a fight.

Not all is lost, though

However, as it unfolded, his colleague and former world champion, Timothy Bradley, seemingly disagreed. According to him, Canelo Alvarez faces a competent challenge from Jaime Munguia. Bradley said, “He is a dangerous fighter for Canelo at this point in his career because…how hard this guy hits, how bigger he is…if he develops a really good jab, he has to, coz that’s how you beat Canelo…a really good jab to offset his forward plodding, coming forward, high guard…if you could keep that jab on him all night…”

Bradley insisted that, as the last fight against John Ryder showed, under legendary trainer Freddie Roach, Jaime Munguia has really bettered his jab. If the WBC silver super middleweight champion is able to stay and survive the best shots from Canelo Alvarez, then he can prove himself dangerous. Hence, whatever is said and done, Timothy Bradley insisted that it would be a great fight, and he could hardly wait for it.

Do you think bringing around Ali’s legacy to review a modern-day situation where a fight has failed to materialize serves as a good example?

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