Looks like the WBC is having a hard time impressing fans these days. As the sanctioning body relayed its excitement for tonight’s fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia, it received flak for the poster it uploaded. What was so wrong about the social media post? Well, it was sort of unreal, and not in a nice way.
WBC in the Hot Seat
The WBC has been on the receiving end of plenty of flak in the days leading to the Alvarez-Munguia matchup. First, the body was accused of being partial toward the Jalisco-based fighter for not ordering him to fight his mandatory challenger David Benavidez, and instead signing off on the Munguia fight. Second, it unveiled a special, “Tamaulipas Belt.” It was inducted to commemorate the Mexican Titans taking on each other. Now, this time around, it’s a poster that the body uploaded on its X.
May the 4th Fight Poster Fiasco
In the social media post, the WBC tickled pop culture geeks as it aligned tonight’s event with Star Wars Day, which also happens to be celebrated on May 4. Leveraging the Star Wars theme, it posted an artistic poster of both the fighters next to each other. It wrote, “Boxing and Star Wars fans #maythe4thbewithyou !…Canelo VS Munguia, let’s go!”
However, the poster, like many other efforts of the WBC, did not impress fans. A lot of fans came with words blazing against the sanctioning body.
Boxing and Star Wars fans #maythe4thbewithyou !
Canelo VS Munguia, let’s go!
🎨 by @sebazalas#wbcboxing #canelomunguia pic.twitter.com/DrF7s63bcT
— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) May 4, 2024
Fan Outrage
The poster was not approved by most fans. One fan, with zero qualms, even ordered the body to delete the post. Was the poster that bad?
“Delete this” – tweeted one irate fan.
Another user continued to express their disappointment with the WBC. While they expected nothing better from the body, they were shocked by the poster. So much so that they questioned if it was generated by AI.
Delete this
— nor〽️_bender (@Ant1Lif3) May 4, 2024
AI or Over-enthusiastic Design?
While artificial intelligence (AI) continues to make space for itself in the world, this post too became a debate centered around it. According to the fan, this poster was surely generated by AI. However, per the post, the digital art was made by an artist whom WBC attributes, “@sebazalas.”
One fan expressed what many were thinking, commenting that the image of Munguia in the poster looked completely unlike the Mexican fighter.
Ugly ass AI poster bullshit, wouldn’t expect any less from WBC https://t.co/YxjyXre8SF
— Manolito 🐀 (@ManolitoNeL) May 4, 2024
Fuckn AI ❌❌❌
— ARIQ (@MohammdAriq) May 4, 2024
The Final Blow
However, another fan was as unserious as the poster. They noted that Alvarez looked like a Greek version of the iconic character from Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also thought Munguia looked like the Rebel Alliance’s head military commander, Admiral Ackbar, another iconic character from Star Wars.
Ponen a Canelo como un Obi-Wan griego y a su lado el mismísimo Almirante Ackbar, se pasan jajajaja. https://t.co/dBHWDHLCbk
— Romo (@feliperomoo) May 4, 2024
As fans’ disappointment echoes through social media, the WBC finds itself during yet another storm. Whether it’s a simple design blunder or a misjudgment of fan sentiment, it seems the WBC needs to rethink its approach to connecting with fans, both in and out of the ring.
