Terence Crawford Believes Canelo Alvarez “Carried” Jaime Munguia the Entire Fight But Pros Like Shawn Porter Still Feel He Is on a “Decline”

The fans wanted a blown-out Mexican war, and they got one. The stage was set for Jaime Munguia to exit the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the undisputed crown. But he couldn’t walk into Floyd Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol‘s footsteps as he failed to surmount Canelo Alvarez.

Alvarez, 33, came into the fight with clear intentions of racking up his first KO win since Caleb Plant in 2021. Meanwhile, Munguia, previously scoring a statement win against John Ryder, had specified his ambition to take down his fellow compatriot. However, it was Alvarez who won the thrilling showdown, as he outpointed Munguia by 117-110, 116-111, and 115-112. The scorecards might paint a different picture than what the fans witnessed in the ring.

A game of pure finesse

As expected, Munguia came straight at the champion and threw jabs at him. He also looked like a fighter with a larger frame. The Mexican fighter stuck to the game plan and employed jabs instead of going into a full-blown war. Things started to get heated in the second round, as he used jabs to set up power punches, and Alvarez struggled to cope with his challenger’s punch output. But Alvarez also squeezed in power shots and combinations, along with a counter right.

In the third round, Alvarez’s counter right slowly negated Munguia’s wild punches and high pace. But Munguia tried to open up Alvarez with his relentless punches. The two met in the middle of the ring in the following round as Munguia landed jabs and body shows. Meanwhile, Alvarez’s right seemed to find its target every time. Moreover, Alvarez also used jabs to push Munguia back and then landed an uppercut to knock down his opponent.

In the fifth round, Alvarez brought in a body shot, which evoked pain in Munguia’s face, and he popped his head back with his jab. Munguia’s leaky defense started to cause him trouble. He assumed more aggression in the sixth round as he feinted jabs and landed a left hook, which shook Munguia. Compared to Alvarez’s aggression, Munguia’s tempo had taken a hit after going down in the fourth.

In the seventh round, Alvarez’s body shots, hooks, and jabs proved too much for Munguia as the challenger struggled to stay on his feet. Munguia was fighting on the back foot in the eighth, unlike his fighting stance. But he landed some punches of his own. However, Alvarez remained unfazed. While Munguia tried to fight ferociously in the ninth, Alvarez was slowly breaking him down as his power punches did substantial damage. He brought his 5-6 combination back and, after a beat down of 8 rounds, finally bagged a round. He also put in a similar display in the tenth, whereas Canelo was just taking a step back and unloading a hard punch as a counter.

In the championship rounds, Alvarez picked up pace as he wanted to finish strongly. Munguia mixed jabs and combinations that failed to bruise Alvarez’s granite chin. In the final round, with Munguia needing a KO to win, both fighters didn’t shy away from exchanging blows. Alvarez’s swift head movements helped him escape any punishment, and he cruised to a comfortable win.

Fans remain divided in their opinions

Terence Crawford didn’t seem impressed with Jaime Munguia’s outing. He believed the undisputed champion “carried” the challenger. Notably, ESPN stats revealed that Munguia had thrown a total of 663 punches throughout 12 rounds, averaging 55 punches per round. The same number for Alvarez stood at 536. But Alvarez connected 44% of his punches, while it was 26% for Munguia. So, many fans might not agree with Crawford’s assessment.

Claressa Shields was all praise for Munguia, who showed a brave heart and absorbed whatever Alvarez threw at him. She wrote, “Man Mungia fought harder than most of the Canelos opponents! Good scrap! But the King still reigns!”

Shakur Stevenson made a controversial remark, as he believed ‘Bud’ would have beaten Alvarez. Crawford and Alvarez had previously flirted with the idea of fighting, but a jump from 147 to 168 for Crawford seems unlikely right now.

Alycia Baumgardner thought that Canelo Alvarez didn’t want to hurt Munguia. The same is proved by Alvarez’s 12th-round antics when he had Munguia hurt. Instead of going for a kill, he just glanced at the audience and didn’t land a killing blow.

Mikaela Mayer pointed out that Munguia looked “bigger” than Alvarez, as Munguia is a natural super middleweight fighter, whereas Alvarez is not.

Shawn Porter believed that Alvarez had “declined” with his age. Alvarez is not churning out KOs like he used to, and in this fight also, he couldn’t finish it. He penned, “This is great work. YES CANELO HAS DECLINED. But he’s still smart and strong. Too smart too strong for Jaime.”

What do you make of this exciting fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia? What do you believe is next for the undisputed champion? Let us know in the comments below.