LAS VEGAS – It’s a boxing tale that’s been written before, and the addition of new actors and an entire country’s attention makes this renewal all the more compelling.

Veteran trainer Teddy Atlas said on Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters” that Saturday night’s undisputed super-middleweight title defense by Canelo Alvarez against his Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia on Cinco de Mayo weekend is the latest boxing chapter of “The Young Lion versus The Old Lion.”

“What is a better setup? A better promotion? A better draw?” Atlas asked. “It’s that old mantra: Does the young lion take his place? That’s what this is all about.

“Is the old lion missing a couple claws and teeth? Is he a little slower? The young lion has the claws and teeth, but he doesn’t have the experience.”

Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) is unbeaten and coming off a January stoppage of John Ryder, who went the distance with Alvarez last May, but Atlas sees defensive lapses.

“That tells you a lot that he’s still a work in progress after 43 fights,” Atlas said. “His defense still has a long way to go. That is a negative. But it’s a positive for us. Canelo still punches accurately and hard. [Munguia’s] not hard to find. That’s the recipe for a damn good fight.”

Munguia participated in last year’s Boxing Writers Assn. of America fight of the year by defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and he’s logged 199 pro rounds against lesser foes compared to Alvarez’s 484 rounds versus the likes of Gennadiy Golovkin, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley. 

That inequity is most noticeable in Munguia’s attention to protecting himself, and Atlas remarked, “As a trainer, I don’t like it. As a fan, it ain’t bad, baby!”

While the 33-year-old Alvarez (60-2-2) has predicted he’ll snap a four-fight knockout drought and finish Munguia within eight rounds – which would be his 40th career knockout – Munguia, 27, would upend the boxing landscape with an upset.

“With the new caveats that [Hall of Fame] trainer Freddie Roach brings to the table, have we seen the best version of Jaime Munguia?” “Deep Waters” analyst Chris Algieri asked. “He’s an ever-improving fighter, [so] the guy who shows up Saturday may be the best version of Munguia we’ve ever seen. He’s only 27.

“Not only does he have a shot to defeat Canelo Alvarez, he has a shot to become the face of Mexican boxing. If he beats Canelo Alvarez, we have a bona fide star … he’s young, fun to watch, has a long career ahead of him, he’s got the look and he’s exciting as hell.”

Munguia winning puts “Munguia and [U.S. promoter] Oscar De La Hoya in the driver’s seat for quite some time. There’s a lot riding on this.”

The fighters are scheduled to face off before the bright lights of their news conference Wednesday, and the heat is only going to intensify on the challenger.

“I don’t see Munguia as the type of guy who shrinks in this?” Algieri said. “I see him growing, looking at the legendary Mexican battles of the past and pulling from that so he can give the best effort.”