LAS VEGAS — A raucous, surprise support for Jaime Munguia was quickly snuffed out Saturday with Canelo Alvarez’s patented combination, a left hook and then a right uppercut, that knocked the challenger to the canvas for the first time in his 44 career fights.
Alvarez, boxing’s top star, continued to gain momentum after the fourth-round knockout and won the fight with his cleaner, sharper and more powerful shots, retaining the undisputed super middleweight championship in an all-Mexican battle on Cinco de Mayo over the weekend in front of 17,492 at the T-Mobile Arena.
Alvarez’s fourth successful defense of his four 168-pound titles was made official with scores of 115-113, 117-110 and 116-111. ESPN scored 118-109. It was the third fight in a row in which Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO) suffered a knockdown. He also knocked out Jermell Charlo and John Ryder in decision victories last year.
“I’m very proud that all the Mexicans are here watching us,” said Alvarez, the No. 4 boxer in ESPN’s rankings. “…He’s a great fighter. He is powerful, he is astute. … But it’s a bit ponderous. I see every blow. Sometimes it hits me because I’m gaining confidence. … I did really well and I feel proud of it… I’m definitely the best fighter now.
Munguia, a former junior middleweight champion, was competing at an elite level for the first time. And he undoubtedly performed well. The 27-year-old from Tijuana fought with passion and showed a better jab in his second fight with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.
Munguia’s pressure and aggression were effective for the first two rounds, but Alvarez finally, as usual, felt his opponent at the right time. “I’m in no rush,” Alvarez said. “That’s why I have a lot of experience. … I had 12 rounds to win the fight and I did it.”
Munguia (43-1, 34 KO) won three rounds unanimously: the first frame and rounds 3 and 9. He boxed well, but his punches never seemed to have enough power to earn Alvarez’s respect.
Even as Munguia pinned Alvarez to the ropes and unloaded his gun, Alvarez was able to avoid most of these punches and then land a single shot that supported the challenger. Then came the round 4 knockdown and it seemed Munguia’s legs never recovered. The difference in experience was also clear, as Alvarez was a first-ballot Hall of Famer who shared the ring with virtually every top name at his weight during his career.
“I came out powerful and won the first rounds,” Munguia said through a translator. “I let go, but he is a player with a lot of experience. This loss hurts because it’s my first loss and I felt powerful. There is no doubt that I would have beaten anyone else tonight. … He is a player who creates an atmosphere of many problems.”
Down the stretch, Alvarez was able to stun Munguia several times, turning his aggression against him. Alvarez’s elite counter-attacking ability, more powerful punches and evasive ability were too much for Munguia to overcome. But all is not lost.
Alvarez, 33, credits the first loss of his career – a defeat to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 as a 20-year-old – as a performance that helped shape him into an all-time great fighter.
Munguia, ESPN’s fourth super middleweight, entered the ring coming off his career-best win, a ninth-round TKO of Ryder in January. Munguia’s previous performance was named the 2023 Fight of the Year by ESPN, a fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in which a last-round knockdown earned Munguia the decision.
Alvarez hasn’t finished a fight at the distance since he defeated Caleb Plant in November 2021 to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
“I’m glad I gave him this opportunity,” said Guadalajara’s Alvarez, who closed out the match as a minus-550 favorite on ESPN BET. “Munguia is a great guy and a great champion. He has a great career ahead of him.”
The promotion was overshadowed by a renewed feud between Alvarez and his former longtime promoter, Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya. For the first time since November 2019, Alvarez and De La Hoya, Munguia’s co-promoter, shared the stage during fight week, and Wednesday’s press conference erupted as time did little to heal elderly wounds.
De La Hoya took aim at Alvarez and mentioned his failed drug test before his 2018 rematch with Gennady Golovkin. Alvarez responded that De La Hoya was stealing from fighters and referred to GGG, who sued Oscar’s Golden Boy Promotions in 2022, demanding more than $3 million that he believed was owed from that rematch.
De La Hoya told ESPN that GGG had been paid every dollar owed to him, and the next day he sent Alvarez a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he withdraw his “defamatory allegations.”
Alvarez’s attorney, Gregory M. Smith, told ESPN that Alvarez “said what he said.”
Alvarez admitted that he was more determined to win after the proceedings were over, and although he didn’t finish Munguia in the distance, he did win once again in dominant fashion.
“I always said [Canelo is] he’s a good fighter in the ring, but this experience for Jaime will just take him to another level,” De La Hoya said. “It’s just like Mayweather and Canelo. … Canelo won the school and then became the face of boxing.
Now, calls for Alvarez to fight David Benavidez will return once again as Alvarez prepares for his expected return on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September.
“If the money is right… I can fight [Benavidez] right now,” Alvarez said. “I do not care. At this point it’s just a matter of money. Everyone asks for everything.
“When I was fighting [Erislandy] Lara, Austin Trout, Miguel Angel Cotto, [Floyd] Mayweather, Billy Joe Saunders, GGG, they all said I didn’t want to fight them, and I fought them all. So now… I can do whatever I want.
It was Alvarez’s first fight against another Mexican since defeating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in May 2017 and his seventh main event fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend. Canelo has won four straight fights since moving up to 175 pounds in May 2022 following a decision loss to Dmitry Bivol.
Andrew Moloney (left) attacks Pedro Guevara – photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.
The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.
Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.
“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.
“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.
“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.
I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.
Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.
This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.
Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.
It was a breakthrough moment in his career.
“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.
“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.
“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.
“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”
It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.
“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.
“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.
“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”
Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.
“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.
“We have also rejected for some time the idea of moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”
Despite an impressive amateur resume, welterweight Benjamin Johnson of Springdale, Maryland, enters the professional ring with a shoulder injury.
Johnson will face Kevin Pantoja in a four-round fight at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, promoted by his trainer Lamont Roach Snr’s NoXcuses Promotions. The fight will be broadcast on Saturday on ProBox TV.
Johnson, 1-0 (1 KO), spent just 2:23 in the ring in his professional debut, displaying the quick, aggressive hands that won him multiple national titles. However, 19-year-old Johnson feels an advantage, believing he is being overlooked by his NoXcuses Boxing Gym teammates.
Pantoja, 1-1, 27, has never stopped being a professional – Johnson aims to change that.
“People underestimate me,” Johnson said. “It’s been like that since I was an amateur.”
He added that this underestimation increases his motivation in the gym. Johnson is determined to prove his worth not only to himself, but also to those who doubt him or, worse, don’t recognize him. “I never felt like I was recognized as that guy, so I feel like I’m underappreciated,” Johnson said of his amateur and now professional career.
Johnson sees the fight as a key step in his career, compared to feared forward David Benavidez by some teammates and touted by others as one of the most ready-to-fight prospects in the country.
“I train as much as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s about making a statement. The way you win shows people what you’re capable of, and I’m ready to show my best.
David Benavidez’s father, Jose Benavidez Sr., says he wants undisputed lightweight heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev if he can defeat “regular” WBA champion David Morrell in a Jan. 25 fight.
Jose Senior believes Beterbiew would be a good fight for Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO). He would also like his son to have Dmitry Bivol because it would give him a chance to beat someone who beat Canelo Alvarez in 2022.
Jose Sr. is still bitter that Canelo chose not to fight Benavidez all these years, and recently mentioned a $200 million asking price to fight him. If Bivol loses the rematch with Beterbiev, it is not worth fighting him.
Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO) will be the guy Benavidez fights if he defeats Bivol in a rematch in 2025. The second fight is still not confirmed, but it is likely.
Benavidez’s worst nightmare would be if Beterbiev lost his rematch with Bivol and then the two fighters met in a trilogy fight. Benavidez will have to wait until the third fight between these fighters takes place before he can claim the belts.
“David’s next fight will be David Morrell. Everyone is very excited about it. We tried to make this fight for three years, but I think David Morrell needed a little more experience to show the world that he deserves this fight,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. Probox TV David Benavidez’s next fight with Cuban David Morrell will take place on January 25.
Of course, Team Benavidez hasn’t tried challenging to fight Morrell over the last three years because they’ve been the ones ignoring him. If they wanted a fight with Morrell, it would have happened a long time ago.
They waited until now, after Morrell’s unimpressive performance against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, before deciding they wanted to fight him.
“David called him and said, ‘Hey, I want to do this fight. Let’s make it happen. It was done right away. I’m very excited to fight a newborn talent, a sturdy fighter, and I think it’s going to be a tough fight,” said Jose Senior on how the fight with Morrell ultimately came about.
I hope we get a chance to fight Beterbiev. He won only on Saturday. Hopefully we can achieve that, but right now our focus is on David Morrell. We have to look impressive to get to the next level,” Benavidez Sr. said.
If Benavidez loses to Morrell, Jose Sr. will have to decide which direction to take his son. Will he move it back to 168 pounds or stay at 175, hoping to win one of the belts after Beterbiev’s vacation?
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