Jaime Munguia?s lost opportunity to fight Gennady Golovkin turned into another title shot and he took advantage of that opportunity.
In his first world title fight, Munguia decimated WBO junior middleweight champion Sadam Ali to win the the title in the main event of an HBO telecast from the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. The fight ended in the fourth round when Munguia knocked down Ali a fourth time in the fight.
The title bout started off with a bang when the much bigger Munguia knocked down Ali early in the first round. Although Ali got right back, Munguia continued to dominate the fight, landing numerous power punches while Ali was cornered and knocked down a second time in the opening round. Despite Ali surviving the round, he didn?t look like he would be able to return to the ring for a second round.
Munguia continued the assault on Ali in round two by knocking him down a third time in the fight and Ali barely hanging on. The third round went slightly better for Ali, getting accustomed to Munguia?s power, but did not put himself in position to turn the tables. It was in the fourth round where Munguia landed the decisive knockout. At 1:02 of round four, the referee stopped the fight the moment Ali went down a fourth time, awarding Munguia his first world title.
For the fight, Ali connected on just 30 of 135 total punches (30 percent) while Munguia was far more efficient, landing 59 of 144 total punches thrown. The loss ends Ali's short reign as the WBO champion after winning the title when he defeated Miguel Cotto last December.
Munguia was a relatively unknown Mexican prospect at 154 and 160 pounds up until a few weeks ago. After Canelo Alvarez withdrew from his planned May 5 fight against Golovkin, Munguia was considered to be a replacement opponent until the Nevada State Athletic Commission rejected Munguia as an opponent for Golovkin on May 5. Munguia then stepped up to be Ali?s replacement opponent when Liam Smith, originally planned to be Ali?s opponent, went down with a skin condition that prevented him from preparing for the fight against Ali in time.