By Miguel Maravilla

In what will be the biggest fight of his career, the fight former world champion Jaime Munguía (43-0, 34 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico has dreamed of his entire boxing life. Munguia will face fellow Mexican and superstar, undisputed super middleweight world champion Saul “Canelo” Álvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) of Guadalajara. The Mexican showdown goes down Saturday, May 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on PBC Pay-Per-View event on Prime Video.

“This is obviously going to be a great fight and a Mexican war. I am proud to be headlining this event,” Jaime Munguia said. “I’m ready for this stage. We’re ready for everything and we’re going to have a great fight that night. “We’re very confident,” Munguia added.

Standing face to face, Munguia faced off with Canelo Tuesday afternoon to officially announce their showdown. No need to hype things up via social media or attempt to sell the fight by pushing or shoving and trash talking, the two Mexican fighters displayed respect for one another.

Munguia scored an impressive stoppage over John Ryder early this year. Disposing of Ryder in nine rounds as the Englishman went the distance with Canelo in his previous fight, setting the stage for Canelo Munguia.

“We know every fight is different, so we won’t take too much from Canelo’s fight against Ryder.” Munguia stated. “We just took advantage of the opportunity we saw,” Munguia added.

Making his splash back in 2018, Munguia scored a fourth-round knockout over Sadam Ali to win his first world title in capturing the WBO super welterweight title. Making five successful defenses of the title, Munguia then campaigned at middleweight.

“It’s been great. I have defeated everyone I’ve faced and taken on all challenges and have evolved as a fighter,” Munguia said.

Criticism began to build as Munguia’s opponents were in question, with negative social media rumblings and constant bashing, however most fans don’t seem to understand the matchmaking process.

“I have taken advantage of many opportunities. Passed many tests, worked hard, consistent, sacrificed, and here we are,” Munguia stated. “I’m ready for this stage. We’re ready for everything and we’re going to have a great fight that night. “We’re very confident,” Munguia added.

Last year, Munguia had to dig deep and rally in a treacherous battle with Ukraine’s Sergiy Dereveyanchenko. Scoring a late knockdown in the twelfth and final round, Munguia pulled off a split decision.

“I passed a big test. He was a very tough opponent but my will to win and keep pushing is what made the difference,” Munguia on his victory over Dereveyanchenko.

Following that fight a few weeks later, Munguia parted ways with his trainer former world champion and Hall of Famer Erik Morales, also from Tijuana. Munguia felt it was time for a change once again. Replacing Morales, Hall of Fame Trainer Freddy Roach as the two had their first camp together for the Ryder preparation.

“Not only is Freddie Roach a great trainer, but he’s a great person and he’s a motivator. He’s always motivating us to keep going forward and keep training hard,” Munguia on training with Freddy Roach.

The result saw a more offensive Jaime Munguia as he scored the TKO over John Ryder and scored multiple knockdowns in the fight in route to the ninth-round stoppage in his first fight under Freddy Roach.

“I felt great in the ring, and it was a good win. Both our fights with John Ryder are two completely different fights but we did our job,” Munguia said.

The Tijuana fighter will temporarily reside in Southern California during camp. Preparations are now underway as Munguia and Roach hold training camp at Roach’s famed Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood, California to gear up for the Mexican superstar Canelo.

“It’s time to begin our work and come in sharp for May 4th. I’m confident we will have a good preparation and surprise everyone,” Munguia on his camp. “We have to be 100 percent for Canelo,”

Canelo successfully defended his undisputed crown this past September in annihilating super welterweight king Jermall Charlo for twelve rounds and scoring a knockdown in route to the decision win.

“Canelo is a complete fighter with power, great combinations, and knows how to work the body,” Munguia on Canelo. “Canelo has always been a source of pride and motivation for me. I used to say when I was coming up in the sport that I wanted to be like him, and now we get a chance to face him and hopefully be where he is soon,” Munguia added.

A four-division world champion having captured titles at super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight. Canelo’s resume includes wins over Gennadiy Golovkin, Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders, Sergey Kovalev, Danny Jacobs, Miguel Cotto, and Shane Mosley. Alvarez’s only defeats came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in September 2013 and Dmitry Bivol in May 2022.

“Canelo has a lot of accomplishments and experience. This is my first time headlining a pay per view. The key is to work hard in camp and truthfully, I am ready for this,” Munguia stated.

When asked about his plan for fight night, Munguia concluded.

“In the ring things change. I’m fighting a smart fight in that ring but if things begin to get rough. I’m ready to go all out,”

Follow Miguel on Twitter @MigMaravilla