Canelo Alvarez rolled back the years in Las Vegas tonight, looking a million dollars as he ground down fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia over in twelve rounds in Las Vegas.
Off the back of a few uninspiring performances, many were questioning how much defending undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez has left in the tank, especially against a bigger and fresher man in the all action Munguia.
And, for a couple of rounds at least, it looked like some of those fears may have been justified, with the challenger getting off to a strong start having the best of the fight’s opening quarter.
That changed in dramatic fashion in round four, however. Munguia, perhaps a touch tipsy on his own success, got nailed on the way in by a trademark Alvarez uppercut that sent the 27-year-old crashing to the canvas with the bell thirty seconds away.
To his credit, the Tijuanan regrouped well and got his legs back under him, but was visibly more tentative from that point on and ‘Canelo’ was able to dominate affairs.
.@Canelo detonates a right uppercut that sends Munguia to the canvas in RD4!
Order #CaneloMuguia on PBC PPV at @PrimeVideo NOW: https://t.co/Eo0ySuxiFd pic.twitter.com/y7rZlNk3nT
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) May 5, 2024
And though Munguia showed bundles of spirit and was not without pockets of success down the stretch, at no point did Alvarez look out of control and there was no doubt of the result as the final round ended.
All three judges scored the bout to the 33-year-old; 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112.
Barrios gets past Maidana
Mario Barrios (29-2-18 KOs) defended his WBC interim world welterweight title with a decision win over Fabian Andres Maidana (22-3, 16 KOs), who touched the canvas in round three.
The win was Barrios’ third in a row after back to back defeats to Keith Thurman and Gervonta Davis.
Figueroa flattens Magdaleno
Popular featherweight Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs), defended his interim world title with a ninth round stoppage victory over former world champion Jessie Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KOs)
With many expecting WBC belt holder Rey Vargas to relinquish his status, there is every chance ‘The Heartbreaker’ will become a fully fledged world champion in the coming months.
Brandon Figueroa with a mean body shot to stop Jessie Magdaleno at the end of 9 🥊 💥#CaneloMunguia #Boxing
pic.twitter.com/pAiPGuxRPs— El Gallo Guapo🇩🇴☘️ 🦍 (@vinquezada1) May 5, 2024
Stanionis slams Maestre
Returning WBA welterweight world champion Eimantis Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) shook off over two years of ring rust with a comprehensive points win over old amateur rival Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs)
In a division that is going through a slight transitional stage, expect the Lithuanian to be amongst the top dogs when all is said and done.
ALL GAS 😤. There’s no pause in these punches from @e_stanionis 💥! #StanionisMaestre
Order #CaneloMunguia on PBC PPV at @PrimeVideo NOW: https://t.co/Eo0ySuxQuL pic.twitter.com/zGM5T5sd2N
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) May 5, 2024
Prelims recap:
In an entertaining ten rounder, Jesus Alejandro Ramos Jr (21-1, 17 KOs), managed to get Johan Gonzalez (34-3, 33 KOs) out of there in the penultimate stanza in a battle of two heavy handed 154lbers.
Vito Mielnicki Jr (18-1, 12 KOs) and Ronald Cruz (19-4-1, 12 KOs) produced a very watchable scrap at super welterweight, with Mielnicki proving too much for the game Cruz, whom he dropped twice on route to a points win.
There were two eight round contests on the card, the first of which saw Alan Picasso Romero (28-0-1, 16 KOs) halt a tough Damien Vasquez (18-3-1, 10 KOs) in the final round.
This was followed by a win for Cuban super middleweight slickster William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs), who edged out Sean Hemphill (16-2, 10 KOs) to continue his progression towards a world title shot.
The three six round contests all saw the final bell, with decision wins for Julian Bridges (5-0, 2 KOs), Lawrence King (16-1, 13 KOs) and Adrian Torres (8-0, 6 KOs) over Jabin Chollet (9-1, 7 KOs), Anthony Hollaway (7-5-3, 6 KOs) and Arsen Poghosyan (3-1-2, 2 KOs) respectively.
