Canelo Alvarez dropped and defeated a determined, but overmatched Jaime Munguia by a unanimous decision to retain his undisputed 168-pound championship.
The official scores were 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112. Boxing Junkie also had it 117-110 for Alvarez, nine rounds to three.
Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) threw more punches than Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) but landed at a relatively low percentage, a result of the champion’s defensive abilities.
Meanwhile, Alvarez, who values accuracy over volume, landed the harder, cleaner shots.
One of those clean shots came in Round 4, a right uppercut that put Munguia on the canvas for the first time in his career.
Munguia wouldn’t allow that to be the beginning of the end, however. He continued to fight his heart out, staying busier than Alvarez and finding the target on many occasions.
The younger fighter just wasn’t able to do so enough to win the fight.
You can read a full report here.
ROUND 12
Munguia had demonstrated so much heart and determination that I thought he would come out with his hands flying. Didn’t happen, which probably sealed the victory for Alvarez. Munguia must be exhausted. It’s been a grueling fight. Typical effort from Alvarez, good effort from Munguia.
ROUND 11
Neither guy got much done that round. A lot of missed punches. Munguia was busier, as usual. Alvarez landed in spots but hardly dominated a close round. Alvarez has to be leading on the cards but Munguia has made it a genuine fight.
ROUND 10
Munguia might not be winning these rounds but he’s definitely competitive. He’s throwing more punches than Alvarez and some are getting through, including a memorable left hook. Again, Alvarez is more accurate with his shots. Hard to score?
ROUND 9
Another solid round for Munguia, who’s busy and landing some eye-catching shots. No one is going to question his heart, fitness or chin. Alvarez is still the more accurate puncher, though. And his shots obviously hard harder than Munguia’s. The challenger hasn’t hurt Alvarez at all.
ROUND 8
Somewhat better round for Munguia, who a threw a lot of punches. I’m not sure how many landed but that kind of volume doesn’t give Alvarez the opportunity to fire back. When Munguia took breathers, Alvarez got some good work done.
ROUND 7
Masterclass from Alvarez. His punches are remarkably accurate, regardless of the target. Give Munguia credit for taking the best Alvarez is dishing out but he has to be wearing down. A body shot from Alvarez seem to hurt Munguia to some degree.
ROUND 6
Munguia is fighting hard. He’s simply overmatched, like so many of Alvarez’s previous opponents. Munguia looks a little lost, like he really doesn’t know how to proceed. Alvarez is picking him apart and taking little in return. The end may come sooner rather than later.
ROUND 5
Alvarez is in charge. Munguia, recovered from the knockdown, went back to work by punching in high volume. The problem for him is that he can’t land cleanly because of Alvarez’s defense. Meanwhile, the champion is picking his spots beautiful, landing hard, clean shots.
ROUND 4
Down goes Munguia! Alvarez put him down with a perfect right uppercut with about 40 seconds remaining in the round. He didn’t seem to be hurt badly but it was difficult to tell. They had engaged in good back-and-forth action before that dramatic moment.
ROUND 3
Wow! The ending of that round was wild, as Munguia landed a number of big, clean shots. He came out firing that round, having some success early. Alvarez, more concerned with accuracy than volume, responded by landed a number of eye-catching shots before the entertaining ending.
ROUND 2
They mixed it up that round. Munguia continued to jab but he also stood his ground, which resulted in some entertaining exchanges. The problem for Munguia is that Alvarez seemed to avoid most of his punches while landing a number of his own, including body hard body shots.
ROUND 1
Not much happened until late in the round. Munguia probably won the round with his jab, although not that many landed cleanly. Alvarez landed a few lefts to the body. They opened in the final exchanges, perhaps giving us a preview of what is coming.
***
The fighters are in the ring, about to be introduced. We’re only a few minutes away from Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia.
***
Welterweight contender Mario Barrios dropped and defeated a defense-minded Fabian Maidana by a unanimous decision in a 12 round fight. All three official judges had the same score, 116-111, eight rounds to four.
Neither fighter was particularly active.
Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) stalked Maidana (22-3, 16 KOs) for most of the fight but his feet were busier than his hands, as he threw mostly single punches periodically..
The winner also fought with a right eye that was swollen shut by the end of the fight, which didn’t help.
Meanwhile, Maidana, the brother of Marcos Maidana, fought only in spurts. He spent the majority of the time in survival mode instead of taking the risks necessary to win the biggest fight of his career.
The most dramatic moment came in Round 3, when Barrios poked out a weak jab and then followed with a perfect right that put Maidana on the canvas.
The Argentine, who wasn’t seriously hurt, got up quickly. However, that experience might’ve contributed to his reluctance to mix it up.
The result was a boring fight.
Barrios has won three consecutive bouts since he lost back-to-back outings against Keith Thurman (UD) and Gervonta Davis (TKO 8). He was coming off a strong performance in September, when he easily outpointed former titleholder Yordenis Ugas.
Barrios was defending his WBC “interim” title.
***
Featherweight contender Brandon Figueroa knocked out Jessie Magdaleno with a single left to the body in the ninth round of their scheduled 12-round fight.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:59.
The skillful Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KOs) got off to a strong start, striking quickly when he had openings and then either holding or using his quick feet to prevent Figueroa from getting into a rhythm.
However, by around the fourth or fifth round, Figueroa began to pick up his work rate and land more consistently. Magdaleno remained competitive but he also started to slow down, the obvious result of Figueroa’s pressure.
The ending was brutal. Figueroa was pounding Magdaleno against the ropes when he slipped in a perfect left to the gut in the final seconds of Round 9, which forced Magdaleno to drop to his knees in pain.
He was able to get up, giving Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) his third consecutive victory since he was outpointed by Stephen Fulton in 2021.
Figueroa had to overcome more than just a capable opponent on Saturday. Magdaleno came in 2.6 pounds over the division limit, after which he and Figueroa made a deal that allowed the fight to go on.
And Figueroa hadn’t fought in 14 months, which might’ve played a role in his slow start.
***
Welterweight contender Eimantas Stanionis defeated Gabriel Maestre by a one-sided unanimous decision in a 12-round fight, retaining his secondary title.
The official scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.
Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs), who was returning from a two-year layoff, and Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs) threw about the same number of punches. However, Stanionis’ shots were more accurate and cleaner.
And Maestre had no answer for Stanionis’ stiff jab, which was in the loser’s face all night.
***
Junior middleweight contender Jesus Ramos stopped Johan Gonzalez in the ninth round of a scheduled 10-round bout.
Ramos (21-1, 17 KOs) put Gonzalez (34-3, 33 KOs) down with a hard left to the head and followed with a flurry of power shots, which convinced referee Harvey Dock to stop the fight.
Ramos was coming off a disputed unanimous decision loss to Erickson Lubin in September.
***
Junior middleweight contender Vito Mielnicki defeated Ronald Cruz by a unanimous decision in a 10-round fight. The official scores were 99-89, 98-90 and 96-92.
Mielnicki (18-1, 12 KOs) put Cruz (19-4-1, 12 KOs) down in the third and fourth rounds.
The New Jersey fighter has now won 10 consecutive fights since he was outpointed by James Martin in 2021.
***
Canelo Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) is scheduled to defend his undisputed 168-pound championship against Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) tonight (Saturday) on DAZN Pay-Per-View from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Also on the show:
- Mario Barrios vs. Fabian Maidana, welterweights
- Brandon Figueroa vs. Jessie Magdaleno, featherweights
- Eimantas Stanionis vs. Gabriel Maestre, welterweights
- Jesus Ramos vs. Johan Gonzalez, junior middleweights
- Vito Mielnicki vs. Ronald Cruz, junior middleweights.
The featured portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. (main event later in the show).
Boxing Junkie will post round-by-round analysis of the main event and results of the featured bouts, as well as a brief summary, immediately after the fights end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – detailed fight stories, analysis and more – will follow on separate posts the night of the card and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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