Canelo continues his dominance and defends the title of undisputed champion

Jaime Mungia and Canelo Alvarez | Photo: Al Powers

Last night in the US city of Las Vegas, Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2) inflicted the first loss of his career on his compatriot Haim Mungy (43-1) by unanimous decision of the judges, while defending his title of absolute champion in the second middleweight category (up to 76.2 kilograms).

The fans gathered at the T Mobile Arena were much louder in their support for Mungy, who had always stood out with a very reckless and risky fighting style. Mungia was a little more cautious this time around, but he still pressured Canelo early in the fight. It worked only in the first three rounds, because Canelo “bited back” his opponent. In the fourth round, Canelo knocked Mungia down – this was the first time Mungia faced such a situation in his career.

The experienced Canelo continued to “melt” his opponent, and although Mungia tried to fight back several times, he did not manage to land enough punches to affect Canelo. Therefore, the current champion could celebrate a safe victory, which was also confirmed by the fight judges (115-113, 117-110, 116-111).

“This victory means a lot to me. I’m glad I gave Jaime this opportunity – he’s going to have a great career. I’m very proud that the Mexicans were able to watch us,” said Canelo after the fight. “I was patient, I had 12 rounds to win, which I did. Jaime is a great, strong and smart boxer, but he is a bit slow – I saw every punch.”

“I came out with a lot of power and won the first rounds. In the sequel, I put my hands down a little bit, and Canelo [to izmantoja un viņš] is a boxer with a lot of experience. The loss is painful because it is my first in my career and I felt strong. There is no doubt that I would have beaten any other boxer,” Mungia said.

Canelo defended the championship belts he owns after the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and “The Ring” versions, which he won in 2021.