After a long wait, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's first opponent for 2024 has been announced and it will be his Mexican compatriot Jaime Munguia. Both fighters will face off on May 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
However, Canelo has been criticized for his decision to face Munguía instead of David Beanvídez. For many, "Red Flag", as he was nicknamed, was the ideal opponent for the undisputed super middleweight champion.
One of the recent critics of Alvarez was former middleweight champion Austin Trout. Trout was also Canelo's opponent in 2013, resulting in a 12-round unanimous decision victory for Trout.
"Canelo seems to me to lack hunger. He was hungry to be the best Mexican fighter of all time, he was hungry to be the face of boxing, he did it. I'm not sure what he's hungry for now. Maybe it's to continue his legacy and make money? I don't know. That's the only difference, he's working hard, he's still training hard, I think he's staying in shape. So there's no lack of talent and there's no lack of time. I just think he lacks hunger," Trout analyzed in an interview with Boxing Scene.
He also made it clear once again that the fight the entire boxing world wants to see is Canelo vs Benavidez. One is the reigning champion and the other is the interim champion, so a head-to-head fight between the two would be the fight of the year. "But that's still not the fight we want to see. We're trying to see Benavidez and Canelo. Nobody wanted Munguia vs Canelo," Trout added.
On the other hand, he took the time to analyze a possible fight between Benavidez and Canelo and commented that "Red Flag" has a great chance to beat the absolute super middleweight champion due to several factors.
"I think Benavidez can do it, he's young, he's hungry and the only reason I say he can beat Canelo is because Canelo is not as hungry as he used to be," Trout said, reiterating that the Mexican is not as hungry as he used to be.
