Boxing

Canelo Alvarez Joins Forces With Former Foe Before Next Boxing Match

Canelo Alvarez was seen training with a former opponent ahead of his next bout against William Scull.
Grant Young|
The undisputed Super middleweight champion SAUL CANELO ALVAREZ against JAIME MUNGUIA (43-1-34KOs) on May 5, 2024.
The undisputed Super middleweight champion SAUL CANELO ALVAREZ against JAIME MUNGUIA (43-1-34KOs) on May 5, 2024. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

On February 8, Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, announced the date and opponent of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's next fight.

"The legend Saul Alvarez Canelo will fight William Scull in undisputed fight in Riyadh on the 3rd of May … if he win the fight in September will be undisputed again 🔥🥊," Alalshikh wrote on X.

Given that Alvarez almost always fights either on or around Cinco De Mayo (May 5), it wasn't a surprise that his next bout would occur this same weekend in 2025. The last time he fought on Cinco De Mayo weekend came in 2024, when he faced off against fellow Mexican boxer Jaime Munguia in front of 17,492 passionate fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Canelo ultimately cruised to a relatively easy win against Munguia, earning a unanimous decision with the judges' scorecards reading 115-113, 117-110, and 116-111. This marked the fourth successful defense of his four super middleweight titles.

A lot of respect was shown between Canelo and Munguia leading up to and throughout the fight. During their pre-fight face-off (where Canelo has been known to get heated in the past), they exchanged what appeared to be friendly words.

And per a February 10 Instagram story from Canelo's coach Eddy Reynoso, Munguia is now training with Canelo before his next boxing bout against William Scull.

Ring Magazine posted Reynoso's clip of Canelo and Munguia sparring on their X account with the caption, "One of Jaime Munguia’s first training sessions with Canelo Álvarez and Eddy Reynoso 😤".

Munguia announced at the end of January that he intended to begin training under Reynoso after he suffered a shocking upset defeat to Bruno Surace on December 24, 2024.

It will be fascinating to see how Munguia's career develops now having his former foe Canelo Alvarez as his training partner.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.