One of Floyd Mayweather’s closest confidants, Leonard Ellerbe, has backed undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to score a “brutal” knockout victory over Jaime Munguia this weekend in Las Vegas. 

After protracted negotiations, Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) will face his countryman Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena.

Much of the talk at the beginning of fight week has been about Canelo’s relationship with former promoter Oscar De La Hoya. They separated acrimoniously in 2020. 

Canelo’s encounter with Muniguia is the first time the former Golden Boy Promotions fighter has had to share a platform with his former promoter since. Throughout his preparations, Canelo has not been afraid to share his opinions on De La Hoya.  

Canelo has only suffered two losses in his long, distinguished career, the first of which came against Mayweather in September 2013. A tactful Floyd produced one of his most compelling performances, outperforming the then 23-year-old Mexican to snatch the unified WBA and WBC super-welterweight titles away from Guadalajara and into the bulging trophy cabinet of Mayweather in Vegas. 

Ellerbe has praised the Mexican following his link-up with Premier Boxing Champions and for becoming a financial powerhouse in sport as one of the world’s richest athletes. 

The bookmakers in Sin City have Canelo as a wide betting favorite, coming in at -590 to win via any method compared to Munguia, who can be backed at +400 to grab an upset victory. 

Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, predicts an early night for Alvarez. 

In an interview with Sean Zittel, Ellerbe – who felt the jump in class to Canelo would be too great for the challenger – said: “Canelo is going to knock him out, yeah. In a brutal way. Brutal.” 

“So he’ll [Munguia] be in for a rude awakening when he steps in there; it’s not like he’s looking at John Ryder or somebody else again.”