Pound-for-pound great Canelo Álvarez turned in a vintage performance by dropping the previously unbeaten Jaime Munguia Saturday night on his way to earning a unanimous decision in the main event of a PBC Pay-Per-View event on Prime Video from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Making the fourth defense of his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO 168-pound world titles, Canelo delivered another Cinco de Mayo weekend masterpiece as he took home the decision by scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112. Munguia fought valiantly and was extremely busy in the ring, but Canelo consistently landed the cleaner shots across the 12 rounds.
“This win means a lot,” said Canelo. “I’m glad that I gave him this opportunity. Munguia is a great guy and a great champion. He’s gonna have a great career. I’m very proud that the whole world is watching us Mexicans.”
“I came out strong and was winning the early rounds,” said Munguia. “I let my hands go, but he’s a fighter with a lot of experience. The loss hurts because it’s my first loss and I felt strong.”
Munguia appeared to have the momentum after he closed round three with a right hand that appeared to snap Canelo’s head back. However, Canelo responded like the future Hall of Famer he is and delivered the highlight of the fight in round four with a left hook-uppercut that put Munguia on the mat.
“I took my time,” said Canelo. “I have a lot of experience. Munguia is a great fighter. He’s strong and smart. But I have 12 rounds to win the fight and I did. I did really good and I’m proud of it. He’s strong, but he’s a little slow. I could see every punch. That’s why I’m the best.”
“There’s no doubt I would have beaten anyone else tonight,” said Munguia. “He has a lot of experience. I started well, but he’s a fighter who creates a lot of problems.”
Canelo rode the momentum from that moment to dominate the final eight rounds on the way to his unanimous decision. While Munguia threw more punches than Canelo according to CompuBox (663-536), it was Canelo who held the edge in shots landed (234-170) and connect rate (44% to 26%).
After sweeping the final three rounds on all of the cards, Canelo discussed his place in boxing history and his plans for what comes next.
“When I retire, my numbers will say what position I’m in,” said Canelo. “I know there’s a lot of great Mexican fighters in the past, but I’m the best fighting right now. I’m gonna rest and enjoy my family. If the money is right, I can fight right now. I’ve fought everyone and I can do what I want.”
In the co-main event, Interim WBC Welterweight Champion Mario “El Azteca” Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) took home a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Fabian “TNT” Maidana (22-3, 16 KOs) after 12-rounds.
Barrios had his best moment in round three when he landed a picture-perfect straight right hand that sent Maidana down emphatically. However, Maidana, the younger brother of former two-division champion Marcos Maidana, showed his grit by rising off the canvas and staying competitive throughout the remaining rounds.
“Maidana fought hard for 12 rounds like I expected,” said Barrios. “Once my eye started swelling up it was hard to find my range, but we stuck to the fundamentals, tried to find openings and came out with the victory.”
Maidana’s success led to Barrios fighting with a swollen right eye that hampered him throughout the second half of the fights. Despite the limitations, Barrios out landed Maidana 139 to 84 over the 12 rounds and landed more blows in 11 of 12 frames.
“I felt like this loss happened because of a lack of training time,” said Maidana. “No excuses though. I’m going to come back stronger and bring a world championship back to Argentina.”
At the end of the 12 rounds, all three judges scored the fight 116-111, as Barrios retained the title and set his sights on the rest of the wide open welterweight division.
“I want all the smoke at welterweight and I’m ready to fight the best,” said Barrios. “I’m chasing belts. Viva Mexico!”
Pay-per-view action also saw Interim WBA Featherweight Champion Brandon “The Heartbreaker (25-1-1, 19 KOs) retain his title with a vicious ninth-round knockout via body shot over former world champion Jessie Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KOs).
A former world champion at super bantamweight, Figueroa continued to show that his power has moved up with him to featherweight, scoring his second knockout in three fights at the weight. Figueroa got off to a slow start however, as Magdaleno was ahead on two of the three cards through four rounds.
“I just had to be patient,” said Figueroa. “He was blocking the body shot with his arm, but I had to wear him down to get the opening. I waited and I got it.”
“I’m more annoyed because it was such a close fight,” said Magdaleno. “I tried to get up with all my might, but once you’re hit in the right spot, it’s hard to get up.”
Magdaleno seemed to have success landing counter left hands, while Figueroa smothered much of his work in the early frames. As the fight wore on however, Figueroa began to find his offense and surged ahead. This included a big ninth round in which he out landed Magdaleno 32 to 13.
Right before the final bell rang in round nine, Figueroa landed the decisive punch, a blistering left hook to the body that left Magdaleno in a heap on the floor. Magdaleno was unable to reach his feet as referee Allen Huggins counted him out, with the official stoppage coming at 2:59 into the round.
“I heard the 10 second sound and I wanted to create some space and right when I extended my right arm, he threw the left hook to the body and caught me right in the liver,” said Magdaleno. “It just took my legs out.”
“I might have been a little rusty not fighting for 14 months, but hats off to Jessie, it was a great fight,” said Figueroa. “I felt very relaxed in the ring. I knew I had to jab my way in, break him down and get that opening.”
Opening up the pay-per-view, WBA Welterweight Champion Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) returned from an extended layoff to score a unanimous decision victory over two-time Olympian Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs) after 12 rounds of toe-to-toe dueling.
“I know I said there would be no ring rust, but of course it’s different once you’re in the ring with all the lights,” said Stanionis. “It was very emotional to be back in the ring after such a long and frustrating time. It wasn’t my best performance. I’ll be back next time and better for sure.”
“I felt Stanionis respected me, it was a tough fight,” said Maestre. “It didn’t turn out the way I wanted with the world title, but we gave the fans a show and, like I said at the press conference, it was a show stealer.”
In a rematch of an amateur duel from nearly 10 years ago, Stanionis again emerged victorious by landing an impressive 41% of his shots. Although Maestre threw over 100 more power punches than his opponent, Stanionis landed 180 power shots compared to Maestre’s 152.
“The power shots were the difference,” said Stanionis. “He was just touching me and I was hitting him with big shots and putting pressure on him all of the time. It was a do-or-die fight for him and I think he had a good performance and I was just okay.”
Maestre’s activity was not enough to keep Stanionis from coming forward, as the 2016 Lithuanian Olympian used an impressive array of left hooks and uppercuts to consistently push back his charging opponent. Stanionis was able to out-land Maestre in all but three of the 12 rounds.
After 12 rounds, all three judges saw a wide victory for Stanionis, with the final tallies reading 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.
“My corner gave me good advice and encouragement throughout the fight,” said Maestre. “I’m very appreciative of Coach Salas and my entire team. I’m going to come back stronger. No doubt about it. I’m eager to see what’s next.”
“I just want to be active,” said Stanionis. “That’s the main priority. I was off for two years and in my country of Lithuania, where there isn’t the best sparring. Next camp everything is going to be better.”
Prior to the pay-per-view, PBC on Prime Video action was topped by power-punching super welterweight contender Jesus “Mono” Ramos (21-1, 16 KOs) delivering a ninth-round TKO of Johan Gonzalez (34-3, 33 KOs).
Ramos attacked Gonzalez’s body throughout the bout, with body blows accounting for 51% of his landed power shots. Gonzalez was able to stay on his feet for much of the fight, until Ramos was finally able to put him on the canvas late in round nine with a pinpoint left hook.
Wasting no time, Ramos jumped on his wounded opponent with a flurry of power shots that again sent Gonzalez to the mat, just as referee Harvey Dock jumped in to wave off the bout. The official stoppage came at 2:56 of round nine.
Opening up the live streaming presentation, rising super welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr. (18-1, 12 KOs) dropped Ronald Cruz (19-4-1, 12 KOs) twice on his way to a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
The 21-year-old Mielnicki scored his first knockdown with a left hand almost simultaneously with the bell to end round three, and again put Cruz down with a left late in round four. All three judges saw the fight in Mielnicki’s favor, by scores of 99-89, 98-90 and 96-92.
