Canelo Alvarez remains the king of the super middleweights

By William Dumoulin

Photo credit: Premier Boxing Champions

This Saturday, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions in association with Golden Boy Promotions, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) faced Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) in an all-Mexican showdown. The four titles of the undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo, were on the line in a bout that promised to be thrilling from the first bell.

Boxing fans were not disappointed, as Jaime Munguia came out aggressively, throwing many punches and trying to unsettle Canelo. As a result, Canelo lost the first three rounds. However, a big uppercut in the 4th round changed the fight as Alvarez sent Munguia to the canvas. From that moment, the undisputed super middleweight champion dominated his compatriot, using excellent upper body movement, solid defense, and an excellent counterattack, especially with his left hook and uppercut, to win the remaining rounds. This led to a unanimous decision victory for Alvarez (117-110, 116-111, 115-112). Canelo demonstrated in this fight the extent of his boxing IQ and that he is still capable of dominating against the elite of the division.

The future will be interesting, as several contenders are ready to face Canelo in his next fight in September. Will it be David Benavidez, Edgar Berlanga, William Scull, Christian Mbilli, or someone else?

In the co-main event of the evening, Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) defended his WBC interim welterweight title against Fabian Andres Maidana (22-3, 16 KOs). Behind a good jab, Barrios managed to dominate his Argentine opponent fairly easily and won a unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards (116-111 X 3).

Another WBC interim title was on the line, this time in the featherweight division as American Brandon Figueroa (24-1-1, 19 KOs) faced former world champion Jessie Magdaleno (29-2, 18 KOs). The fight was much tougher than expected for Figueroa, as Magdaleno had a lot of success during the bout. However, at the end of the 9th round, the WBC interim champion landed a big body shot that ended the fight, as his opponent could not get up.

To open the main card, the highly talented Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) finally returned after a two-year absence. On this occasion, he defended his WBA regular welterweight title against former Olympian Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs). In a fight that took place mainly at close range, Stanionis prevailed with good defense, higher volume, and greater precision in his punches. The judges scored the fight overwhelmingly in favor of the Lithuanian world champion (117-111, 118-110, 119-109).

Premier Boxing Champions will present another event, as part of their broadcast agreement with Amazon Prime, on June 15th, when Gervonta "Tank" Davis will face Frank Martin. In the co-main event of this gala, David Benavidez will have the chance to win the WBC interim cruiserweight title when he faces former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk.