Canelo Dominant in All-Mexican Clash Against Jaime Munguía

Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) remains the undisputed 168 lb. champion with a unanimous decision victory against Jaime Munguía (43-1, 34 KOs) Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The judges saw the fight 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 for the Guadalajara native. While the bulk of the first four rounds were fought on even terms, Canelo took control of the bout after scoring a knockdown late in the fourth. Munguía was unable to assert himself in the fight from that point onwards.

The two fighters met in the headliner of a Premier Boxing Champions PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Canelo Promotions and TGB Promotions promoted the event in association with Golden Boy Promotions and Zanfer Boxing Promotions. Fight fans were able to purchase the card from Prime Video, DAZN and PPV.com. The clash saw Álvarez defend his status as undisputed champion for a fourth time.

Canelo Dominant in All-Mexican Clash Against Jaime Munguía

Canelo vs. Munguía Recap

The opening round saw Munguía establish the jab in an attempt to keep the reigning champion at bay. Towards the end of the first, both men opened up by trading hooks. The early rounds saw several exchanges between the two, with both having success.

Towards the end of round four, Munguía went down from a left hook followed by a right uppercut. This marked a turning point in the fight. Canelo landed cleanly more and more, while Munguía’s jab was not as effective as earlier. The challenger was getting hit with uppercuts and repeatedly dropped his hands whenever hit to the body.

Quatro De Mayhem @Canelo @jaimemunguia15 🇲🇽🥊
TUNE IN NOW #CaneloMunguia on Prime Videohttps://t.co/Eo0ySuxQuL pic.twitter.com/V5zvcXriEw

— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) May 5, 2024

Munguía would try to get back into the fight by throwing a high volume of punches in bursts. The defensive abilities of Canelo meant that many of these shots either missed or did not land as cleanly. Round nine was where Munguía had the most success with this approach, but Canelo was simply more accurate and landing the harder punches.

In the end, the undisputed champion was the more accurate and defensively sound. While Munguía did what he could to regain control of the bout, nothing he did was enough. This allowed Canelo to hold on to his super middleweight world titles.

Canelo vs. Munguía Post-Fight Interviews

Canelo

“It means a lot. I’m glad I gave Jaime this opportunity, he’s a great guy, great champion,” said Canelo. “I take my time. I have a lot of experience. He’s a great fighter, he’s strong, he’s smart, but I take my time. I have 12 rounds to win the fight and I did.”

“If the money is right, I’ll make that [fight against David Benavidez]. If the money is right, I can fight right now. I don’t give a shit. Everybody’s asking for everything, right? When I fought Lara, Trout, Miguel Cotto, Billy Joe Saunders, everybody said I wouldn’t fight them. I fought all of them. So right now I can fight anyone I want.”

Munguía

“I came out well. I think at the beginning I was winning some rounds, I let my hands go, but he’s a fighter with a lot of experience, obviously,” said Munguía through an interpreter. “He beat me. Unfortunately, he beat me. It definitely hurts, the loss hurts.”

“Yes. There’s no doubt I would have,” said Munguía on whether he would have beaten anyone else the way he fought. “I fought very well, but again, he’s a fighter with lots of experience. I started well but obviously, had the problems.”

Mario Barrios, Brandon Figueroa and Eimantas Stanionis Pick Up Wins

Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Fabián Maidana (22-3, 16 KOs) in a 12-round welterweight fight. Scores were 116-111 across the board. Barrios sent Maidana to the canvas in round three.

Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) got a knockout win over Jessie Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight clash. The time of stoppage was 2:59 of the ninth. Figueroa landed a left hand to the body of his opponent, sending him to the canvas in round nine. Magdaleno was unable to beat the count of referee Allen Huggins, giving Figueroa the stoppage victory.

Opening the PPV portion of the card, Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) won a unanimous decision against Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs). Scores for the 12-round welterweight bout were 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.

Vito Mielnicki Jr. and Jesús Ramos Jr. Victorious

On the preliminary portion of the event that was available on YouTube, Jesús Ramos Jr. (21-1, 17 KOs) stopped Johan González (34-3, 33 KOs). The time of stoppage for this 10-round super welterweight clash was 2:56 of the ninth. González went to the canvas late in round nine from a left hook. A flurry of punches from Ramos saw referee Harvey Dock step in to halt proceedings.

Vito Mielnicki Jr. (18-1, 12 KOs) got the unanimous decision win against Ronald Cruz (19-4-1, 12 KOs) in a 10-round super welterweight fight. Scores were 99-89, 98-90 and 96-92. Mielnicki sent Cruz to the canvas in rounds three and four.

Untelevised Preliminary Bouts

William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Sean Hemphill (16-2, 10 KOs). Scores for the eight-round super middleweight contest were 79-72, 78-73 and 76-75. Scull sent his opponent down in the fifth.

David Picasso (28-0-1, 16 KOs), listed as Alan Picasso Romero on BoxRec, got the stoppage win in round five against Damien Vásquez (17-4-1, 10 KOs). The time of stoppage for this eight-round super bantamweight fight was 2:11.

Lawrence King (16-1, 13 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Anthony Hollaway (7-5-3, 6 KOs). Scores for the six-round light heavyweight bout were 59-55 across the board.

Adrian Torres (8-0, 6 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Arsen Poghosyan (3-2-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round super lightweight clash. Scores were 60-54 across the board.

Julian Bridges (5-0, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Jabin Chollet (9-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round super lightweight contest. Scores for the bout were 59-55 across the board.