CANELO ALVAREZ looked unrecognisable as he received a hard punch from Jaime Munguia.
The Mexican boxer, 33, was able to shrug off the hit as he defended his undisputed super middleweight title against his compatriot.
Alvarez overcame a somewhat slow start to dominate and hand Munguia his first defeat.
The champ took full control after knocking down Munguia in the fourth round before the announced crowd of 17,492, which was fairly evenly split between the two competitors.
Tim Cheatham scored the fight 117-110, David Sutherland had it 116-111 and Steve Weisfeld 115-112.
Munguia, 27, was the more aggressive boxer the first three rounds, even getting Alvarez into the ropes in the third.
Alvarez showed in the fourth he wasn’t going anywhere, using a left and then a right to the face to send Munguia to the canvass with 38 seconds left to change the tenor of the fight.
He then proceeded to sting Munguia over the next four rounds with shots to the face. Munguia put together his own sets of flurries, but they did little noticeable damage to Alvarez.
That is until the ninth round when Munguia landed some blows to the face that left Alvarez looking unrecognisable.
But Alvarez responded with his own combinations, including coming out of the corner, in the fight’s most action-packed round.
The 10th and 11th rounds were close, but largely the same trends followed of Alvarez delivering the harder shots.
Munguia came out in the final round as if he knew he was trailing on the judges’ cards, but did little to change the outcome.
It was Alvarez who again came through with the best blows, using a combination with about a minute left to Munguia’s head and following with several more shots to end the fight.
After the fight, Alvarez was congratulated by American boxing star Ryan Garcia in his dressing room.
He claimed that he is the best Mexican fighter in the world at the moment.
He said: “When I retire, my numbers will say what position I’m in.
“I know there is a lot of great Mexican fighters in the past, but I’m the best fighting right now.”
Alvarez showed for the second straight fight that he is still one of the all time greats in the sport.
Last time out he beat Jermell Charlo by an even wider margin.
However, he has failed to deliver a knockout since beating Caleb Plant in 2021.
Alvarez was wary of what he might do next, saying he’ll return to the ring if the money is right.
He added: “I’ve fought everyone and I can do what I want.
This win means a lot. I’m glad that I gave him this opportunity.
“Munguia is a great guy and a great champion. Hes going to have a great career.
“I’m very proud that all the Mexicans are here watching us.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/27742719/canelo-alavrez-boxing-jaime-munguia-unrecognisable
