The most pressing question regarding Canelo Alvarez’s Saturday night defense of his standing as the face of boxing, as a pound-for-pound elite and the undisputed super-middleweight champion will hover for the next few days.

To Hall of Famer Timothy Bradley Jr., the essence of this title defense against unbeaten Mexican countryman and former junior-middleweight champion Jaime Munguia at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Amazon Prime Video, PPV.com) is simple.

“Will we see vintage Canelo Alvarez?” Bradley wondered on Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters.” “This is more than just a fight. I understand it’s Mexico versus Mexico, I understand everything that ties into this fight (including Alvarez’s grudge with his former mentor and promoter, Munguia’s U.S. promoter Oscar De La Hoya).

“With all that, is this going to bring the best out of Canelo?”

Bradley reminded that the 33-year-old Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) hasn’t knocked anyone out during his last four fights – and even lost to light-heavyweight champion Dmitrii Bivol.

“This is a guy who can bring [the prior viciousness] out of [Alvarez],” Bradley said.

The consequences are massive, Bradley argued.

If Alvarez loses, his position as the sport’s most popular fighter is compromised, his relevance on the pound-for-pound list is compromised and his era is over.

“A vintage Canelo Alvarez is something we haven’t seen in the recent past,” Bradley said. “Whatever happens in this fight is going to tell us the future of both these men.

“Where’s Canelo going to go? Move forward [with a victory] to fight another younger, dangerous guy like [unbeaten former super-middleweight champion David] Benavidez because this young guy [Munguia] brings that similar intensity? Or, if he looks mediocre, then we don’t get the Benavidez fight.”

That could lead Alvarez to someone like mandatory challenger Edgar Berlanga in September, an uninspiring prospect given the thrill of a potential showdown against Benavidez or the winner of the June 1 light-heavyweight undisputed title pitting Artur Beterbiev against Dmitrii Bivol.

Former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri said on “Deep Waters” that he’s enthused by fight week because of the presence of the impassioned Latino fight fans.

Algieri’s most pressing question for the bout is whether Tijuana’s Munguia can harness that same energy and walk through Alvarez’s stiffest early punch?

“What kind of night are we going to expect? Can Jaime take the power? Because Canelo has game-changing power and there’s a lot of holes in the offense of Munguia,” Algieri said. “What happens if he takes that shot and keeps walking through those shots as he goes? I’m really excited for this fight.”

The defensive flaws of the 27-year-old Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) added a wrinkle to the burning question posed by the fighters’ “Deep Waters” colleague Paulie Malignaggi.

“Everyone’s strong at the start. Is he going to walk through the one he gets hit with in round seven? Round eight? Round nine?” Malignaggi said. “Because that’s the problem with Munguia. He gets hit with them all night.

“I’m not on the Canelo bandwagon. I’m analyzing this matchup, because this is the one we got, and it’s hard for me to imagine Munguia maintaining the pace he’s got if he’s getting hit between those combinations.”

While Munguia’s attention to defense is improving under new trainer Freddie Roach, his longtime vulnerability could be especially exposed by the well-trained and disciplined Alvarez.

“It could make (Munguia) a little gun-shy,” Malignaggi said. “Canelo’s power (and ability) … it’s the punches you don’t see that hurt you. We saw (lighter Sergiy) Derevyanchenko do it to Munguia. What happens if Canelo does it, too?

“Is Munguia’s pace going to hold up? If so, Canelo has problems. If Canelo slows down Munguia, then Munguia has problems.”