Jaime Munguia Wins Close Decision Over Derevyanchenko

Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) and Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10 KOs) began swinging at each other in the very first round and would not stop until the final bell.

The two headlined a card at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, USA and fought at the super middleweight limit. The bout was fought at an aggressive pace from start to finish with both men giving it their all. Munguia won a razor-thin decision with two judges scoring the contest 114-113 and the third having it 115-112.

Munguia vs. Derevyanchenko recap

From the moment the first bell rang, both fighters started swinging at each other. It was Derevyanchenko who had early success as his shots appeared to stun Munguia in the first round. Round two continued much the same way with neither man relenting.

In round three, Munguia was clearly stunned and was initiating the clinch. However, he finished strong and was able to see out the round. Round four saw Munguia make use of the jab and land hard shots to the body of Derevyanchenko.

Round five was among the more dramatic rounds as Munguia was stunned once again and did his best to hold on. A recurring theme of the contest was that despite eating hard shots, neither man would go down. A clash of heads in round eight momentarily stopped the action. However, it did little to deter the pace at which this fight was fought at. Prior to the championship rounds, Derevyanchenko was having success by staying on the outside and outboxing Munguia.

The final two rounds were Munguia’s best of the entire fight. In round 11, Derevyanchenko was clearly hurt and did his best to smother the work of Munguia by clinching him. At the end of the round, Munguia’s corner urged him to finish strong, and finish strong he did.

Early in the twelfth round, Munguia dropped Derevyanchenko with a body shot. Although he was able to beat the count, Derevyanchenko spent the remainder of the round doing his best to avoid the power shots of Munguia. Derevyanchenko was able to see the end of the round and the fight went to the scorecards.

Scorecard debate

Despite the scorecards being close, they will definitely generate a lot of debate. Some would argue that Derevyanchenko should have had his hand raised. Derevyancheno has been in a couple of very close fights against the likes of Daniel Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin, in which some argue he was the rightful winner. Like those other couple of fights, there will be fans who can again argue that he deserved to be the winner. One thing that can be said for certain, though, is that both men gave it their all and thoroughly entertained everyone watching.