LAS VEGAS -- Canelo Alvarez doesn't need to burnish his legacy. He'll be a first ballot Hall of Famer if he unexpectedly announced his retirement from boxing tomorrow.
He's won titles in four weight classes, and on Saturday made the fourth successful defense of his undisputed super middleweight title when he outclassed previously unbeaten Jaime Munguia with a one-sided unanimous decision. Alvarez was the better defender, the harder puncher, the sharper counter puncher and the better technician. Judges had it 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 for Alvarez, who dropped Munguia in the fourth with a jaw-shattering right uppercut.
Alvarez improved his record to 61-2-2 with the win, and he could do this every other month if he so chose. Munguia fought hard and pressed consistently, and he gave those who paid the exorbitant ticket prices and the ridiculous $90 pay-per-view price their money's worth. But despite a 43-0 record with 34 knockouts entering the bout, he wasn't nearly on Alvarez's level.
And if you look at the list of contenders in the division, most of the bouts that Alvarez might take would turn out similarly
There is, though, one fight that needs to happen.
Alvarez hasn't shown much interest in fighting David Benavidez, and if he doesn't, it's not going to change his status as one of boxing's greatest stars. That, though, isn't how Alvarez has conducted his career. He's sought out the best, taken the fights that those close to him thought were too risky and consistently took opportunities to prove he's the best.
He's given varying reasons in the past for not wanting to fight Benavidez. During fight week, he offered perhaps the most valid reason for not facing Benavidez when he said he'd be giving up too much weight. On fight night, Alvarez said, Benavidez might outweigh him by 20 pounds.
That may well be true, but it hasn't stopped Alvarez before. Hell, he was thinking of moving up to fight at cruiserweight at one point before he came to his senses. There wouldn't have been much money in that bout and no one was clamoring for it.
A fight with Benavidez, though, is a different story. Benavidez is a skilled boxer and powerful puncher who took apart another highly skilled boxer, Demetrius Andrade, and stopped him at the end of the sixth in November. He wouldn't leave himself so exposed the way Munguia did, and he'd set his shots up better than Munguia.
Even in defeat, Munguia saw vulnerability in Alvarez. Asked if he thought Alvarez was unbeatable, Munguia respectfully said no.
"I don't think he's invincible," Muinguia said. "He's already got two losses. I think he's a great fighter, but I don't think he's invincible."
Benavidez, who will fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 for a light heavyweight title, has looked invincible at times. He is 28-0 with 24 knockouts and has taken apart Andrade, Caleb Plant, David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrrell, among others.
That's the kind of opponent that will light the fire in Alvarez, again. His win Saturday was his fifth in a row by decision, and he didn't remind anyone of Sugar Ray Robinson on Saturday. He's good enough now that he can defeat most of these guys while putting it on cruise control.
Benavidez, though, would get him up early to do road work and to stay late in the gym working on his technique. Benavidez would be to Alvarez what Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran were to Sugar Ray Leonard.
The money, of course, would be huge and a fight with Benavidez would be one of the few in boxing likely to sell over a million on pay-per-view.
Alvarez got booed in the ring when asked about Benavidez when he at first said he wanted to rest before thinking about it. But playing to the crowd, he changed course.
"If the money is right, I can fight right now," Alvarez said. "I’ve fought everyone and I can do what I want. I don't give a shit."
The thing to remember is that Alvarez does things on his own terms. It's one of the many lessons he's learned from Floyd Mayweather. He was hounded about fighting Gennadiy Golovkin for the better part of two years, but ultimately fought GGG and the duo produced a pair of classic battles.
It would be one of the defining fights of his legendary career. And while he doesn't need to prove anything -- If you don't recognize his greatness, you're either a hater or don't know a thing about boxing -- it never hurts to remind folks one more time.
The Benavidez fight simply makes too much sense to brush it off in favor of another mundane defense.