WBO super welterweight champion Jaime Munguia won a unanimous decision over game Liam Smith in an action-packed 12-rounder?
Saturday night in The Joint at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, WBO super welterweight champion Jaime Munguia (30-0, 25 KOs), the 21-year-old assassin from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, successfully defended his title by winning a unanimous decision over interim champion Liam Smith (26-2-1, 14 KOs), the 29-year-old veteran from Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom, in an action-packed 12-rounder.
The final scores were 116-111 (Tim Cheatham), 119-108 (Eric Cheek), and 119-110 (Dave Moretti).
Munguia was making the first defense of the title he won from Sadam Ali in May. He looked like a monster that night, dropping Ali four times in four rounds before the ref waved it off. Based primarily on that performance, which he took on two weeks? notice, the smart money picked Munguia to destroy light-hitting Liam Smith.
Fighting out of the red corner in black trunks with red trim, Munguia struggled in the opening rounds. The man opposite him lacked power, so he gave him a boxing lesson, with several well placed punches to the face for emphasis. Smith exposed Munguia as an offensive machine with serious defensive liabilities.
?I think I did very well,? said Munguia. ?It was a tough fight but, truthfully, I gave a show to my public. He?s a tough opponent, and I was always looking for the knockout, but he?s a tough opponent. But I?m always looking for it. Obviously, I went to get the knockout, and I always put my heart into it like a true Mexican.?
Fighting out of the blue corner in black trunks trimmed in white, Liam Smith came to fight. With little fanfare and little chance of winning he managed to keep it competitive. A former world champion, his only loss before tonight was to Canelo Alvarez in 2016, and even that was competitive while it lasted.
Munguia vs. Smith was a fine fight between two fine fighters. One is moving up and the other is winding down. One gave a winning performance in a losing effort. The other punched his way to a unanimous decision.
Summing up the night after the fight, Munguia said, ?I?m a little green, but this experience will help me for the next rival.?
Liam Smith more or less agreed.
?It?s his night tonight,? he said. ?He?s a good fighter. He answered a lot of questions.?
