Canelo Alvarez, Jaime Munguia Both Make Weight For The RING 168-Pound Championship

Canelo Munguia Press Conference. Photo Credit: Esther Lin, Premier Boxing Champion
The undisputed all-Mexico tournament will take the field for the first time in more than 50 years.
Sul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Jaime Munguia were both within the super middleweight limit. Alvarez of Guadalajara (60-2-2, 39 knockouts) was 166.8 kilograms, his lightest weight since moving up the division in 2020. The reigning ring and fully unified champion will attempt to defend his seventh division title.
Tijuana’s Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) came in at 167.4 pounds. The former is the same weight as his 2023 Fight of the Year-honored victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko last June. The undefeated WBO 154-pounder won his first title fight in nearly five years.
Their scheduled 12-round clash headlines a PBC Prime Pay-Per-View program this Saturday from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. PPV.com and DAZN’s PPV arm will also carry the event, which begins at 8:00 pm ET. Suggested retail price is $89.99 + tax.
Alvarez, the Ring 168-pound champion, defeated Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) The Ring 154-pound champion, last September 30. This win was the third in a row since he dropped back to 168. Alvarez was unsuccessful in his May 2022 bid against WBA light heavyweight title holder Dmitry Bivol.
Both incidents took place at T-Mobile Arena, where Alvarez was making his ninth appearance. The four-division champion headlines the venue’s first boxing event, which he won in May 2016 against Amir Khan.
Munguia emerged as the frontrunner to claim the boxing equivalent of the Powerball jackpot after his latest win.
The undefeated 27-year-old looked good in the ninth round of England’s John Ryder (32-7, 18 KOs) on January 27 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Munguia quickly called for an all-Mexican clash with Alvarez during his post-fight interview, but he wasn’t sure at the time if he would get that fight.
That dream has come true and will mark the first uncontested all-Mexico championship in more than 52 years. The last such time was in March 1972, when Rafael Herrera knocked out ‘Rockabye’ Ruben Olivares in the eighth round to win the Ring, WBC and WBA bantamweight titles.
PPV Undercard Weights
Mario Barrios (28-2, 19 KOs), San Antonio, Texas, 146.6 pounds
Fabian Maidana (22-2, 16 KOs), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 146.2 pounds
12 rounds, for Barrios’ WBC welterweight title
Brandon Figueroa (24-1-1, 18 KOs), Weslaco, Texas, 125.4 pounds
Jessie Magdaleno (29-2, 18 KOs), Las Vegas, 128.6* pounds
12 rounds, featherweight
* Magdaleno was over 2.6 kilos; Figueroa’s interim WBC featherweight title is no longer in jeopardy.
Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs), Kaunas, Lithuania, 146.6 pounds
Gabriel Maestre (6-0-1, 5 KOs), Barcelona, Venezuela, 146.8 pounds
12 rounds, for Stanionis’ WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight title
PBC on Prime Video Prelim Weights
Jesus Ramos Jr. (20-1, 16 KOs), Casa Grande, Arizona, 154.6 pounds
Johan Gonzalez (34-2, 33 KOs), Las Vegas via Valencia, Venezuela, 153.6 pounds
10 rounds, junior middleweight
Vito Mielnicki, Jr. (17-1, 12 KOs), Roseland, New Jersey, 153.6 pounds
Ronald Cruz (19-3-1, 12 KOs), North Hollywood, California, 152.2 pounds
10 rounds, junior middleweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.