Bettors love underdog in Canelo-Munguia 'full-out Mexican war'

LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez is arguably the most popular boxer in the world. But he’s not the most popular bet in Saturday’s super middleweight world title fight at T-Mobile Arena.

That distinction belongs to unbeaten fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia, a +375 underdog at the Westgate SuperBook to upset Alvarez, the undisputed champion and heavy -500 favorite.

“In boxing, the public loves to bet on the underdog,” SuperBook executive director John Murray said. “I’m sure we’ll have a lot of moneyline parlays going to Canelo, and there might be some bigger bets on Canelo. But right now, it’s mostly bets on Jaime Munguia.”

The price on Munguia (43-0, 34 knockouts) had dropped from +450 to +400 on Thursday at the SuperBook before dipping to +375 on Friday. It was down to +350 at Caesars Sportsbook.

“The public is loving the underdog,” Caesars vice president of trading Craig Mucklow said. “Similar to the Ryan Garcia fight.”

Bettors are fresh off a win on Garcia, who cashed as a 5-1 underdog after defeating Devin Haney by majority decision April 20 in New York.

“We didn’t do well on the Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney fight, which was a similar price,” Murray said. “Usually when they have the fights priced like this, everybody wants to bet the ’dog, because they always want to risk a little to win a lot.”

Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) will fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend for the fourth straight year and the second time at T-Mobile Arena. Munguia, a Tijuana native, is his first Mexican challenger in that span.

“You can expect a full-out Mexican war,” Munguia said through an interpreter.

Alvarez’s losses were to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and Dmitry Bivol on May 7, 2022, at T-Mobile Arena.

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