Inside Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia Press Conference

It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon in Beverly Hills, CA, as I approached The Beverly Hills Hotel, which was the site for Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) vs Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) press conference. The hotel wasn’t much to look at on the outside, but the inside was a much different story as it was filled with marble and flowers throughout every square inch of the property. The press conference was in a ballroom, and as soon as you walked in, you saw a mariachi band getting their stuff together before the start of the presser. Next to them was a Mexican food spread for those in attendance courtesy of the hosts Canelo Promotions, TGB Promotions, Zanfer & Golden Boy. Instead of the typical chairs in front of the stage, the setup was much more formal, with round tables set up so those in attendance could sit comfortably.

There were celebrities in the house, including former first baseman great Adrian Gonzalez, who all wanted to catch a glimpse of this presser in support of the May 4 mega-fight between Canelo & Munguia. The press conference started right at the scheduled time of 2 p.m. PT, and the mariachi began to play some tunes.

Munguia came out first and couldn’t hold back his excitement for the event. It reminded me of a kid attending the circus for the first time and seeing the high-flying performances. Munguia was dressed as a man, knowing he had to be somewhere important to go, but he wanted to be comfortable. He wore a polo shirt button-up to the top and a watch with diamonds you could see from the back of the room. Munguia filled the role of the “babyface” (a term used in wrestling to describe the good guy) well as he was all smiles and excited that he had his family there to support him.

On the other hand, the 33-year-old undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo stepped into the room with an ice-cold look on his face. Dressed in black with black sunglasses, Canelo walked the red carpet with an all-business demeanor. He has been to many of these events but still looks like a hungry champion and not one relying on his career to speak for him. Canelo walked up onto the stage, shook Munguia’s hand, and they both sat down.

This is where things got interesting. Sitting alongside Munguia were his trainer, Freddie Roach, Oscar De la Hoya (Golden Boy) & Fernando Beltran (Zanfer). Alongside Canelo were Eddy Reynoso, Luis De Cuba (Premier Boxing Champions) & Tom Brown (TGB Promotions). When the press conference began, De La Hoya looked straight ahead and did not turn his face toward Canelo while sitting in his chair the whole time. On the other side of the room, Canelo had a profound, borderline pissed-off look on his face as he was burning a hole through the camera with his eyes.

The history between Canelo and De La Hoya will be discussed for many years. Canelo rose to stardom with Golden Boy, but in the back half of their tenure, things started to fall apart, leading to a nasty legal battle, and Canelo split from Golden Boy in 2020. Canelo classified himself as loyal but couldn’t say the same about De La Hoya. Since then, they hadn’t been in the same space until yesterday, and you can tell that there is still tension between them even after all of these years.

The temperature in the room felt like it went up a few degrees, as the tension was evident. De La Hoya would go to the podium and thank all the people involved for making the fight happen and refused to look in the direction of Canelo. Meanwhile, when Canelo went on the stage, he thanked only Beltran from Zanfer and said things get done when two Mexicans sit down and agree to make something happen. Now, on the surface, that may not seem like much, but when you dig deeper, it’s a shot at De La Hoya, who, as a fighter, was constantly criticized for trying to claim to be Mexican even though he was born in East L.A. Whether Canelo intended to do that or not is a different question. Still, it’s not hard to put that together.

Afterward, Jimmy Lennon Jr. passed it off to a Spanish-speaking media member as they did the presser in both English and Spanish. When they did the face-off after the press conference, Canelo shook Munguia’s hand, and they made it more about delivering the fight of the year for the Mexican people than anything else. They would then speak to the media, and the event would conclude shortly afterward.

What did we learn about the Canelo Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia L.A. Press Conference?

The story of the press conference was Canelo and De La Hoya being in the same room for the first time in four-plus years. Munguia is a fan favorite in Mexico mainly because he comes from Tijuana and is considered a man of the people. Canelo is a legend like the great Julio Cesar Chavez and has delivered a fight that he hopes the Mexican fans will never forget. We won’t get bad-mouthing or shoving because they don’t need to. Cinco de Mayo weekend will be a monster event, even if the opponent across from Canelo isn’t named David Benavidez.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

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