Jaime Munguia’s career has always seemed to be on the verge of collapse for years. Gabriel Rosado, a seasoned veteran, was hoping to land a devastating blow that would derail a promising young boxer’s career. It wasn’t simply that Munguia escaped without a scratch on Saturday night, the middleweight delivered a fight that could lead to a championship opportunity.
At the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Munguia defeated one of boxing’s most seasoned veterans by a score of 118-110, 119-109, and 117-111. Munguia was able to withstand Rosado’s strongest punches in an all-action bout to secure possibly the most spectacular victory of his pro career.
Jaime Munguia Vs Gabe Rosado Fight highlights
“This was my toughest fight so far against Gabriel Rosado because of the way that he would tie up,” Munguia commented through a language interpreter during his postfight interview on DAZN. “But I think it was a great fight that everyone enjoyed.”
Rosado’s strategy was clear from the start: brutalize the 25-year-old Hispanic boxer on the inside and seek an opportunity for a huge counterpunch. Rosado won the first round via TKO. Which seemed to work well in the early half of the fight, at least. It appeared that Rosado (26-14-1, 15 KOs) was able to temporarily incapacitate Munguia (38-0, 30 KOs).
It was Rosado’s straight right hand that caught Munguia at the end of the 8th round that proved to be the most effective for him. The Philadelphia native was certain that he was more effective than the tallies suggested because of the occasional bursts of the punches he shot.
“I thought the fight was a lot closer,” Rosado said during his postfight interview. “He never hurt me, but I hurt him, for sure. It was obvious that I hurt him.”
Punch Stats of Jaime Munguia Vs Gabe Rosado Fight
| PUNCHES | MUNGUIA | ROSADO |
|---|---|---|
| Total landed | 328 | 154 |
| Total thrown | 821 | 551 |
| Percent | 40% | 28% |
| Jabs landed | 70 | 31 |
| Jabs thrown | 283 | 258 |
| Percent | 25% | 12% |
| Power landed | 258 | 123 |
| Power thrown | 538 | 293 |
| Percent | 48% | 42% |
Munguia, on the other hand, dominated the last stages of the match despite Rosado’s best efforts. When it comes to power blows, CompuBox says Munguia has connected on over half of his attempts in three of the last five matches. During the entire fight, he landed around half of his heavy blows. With Munguia continuing to come up the middle, Rosado, 35, remained seeking a strong right hand that could injure or possibly put the young boxer down. Much to his surprise Mungunia, blocked all his hopes of striking a victory punch.
“The adjustment I had to make is to get a little closer, not to fall in his game plan or to his distance because that’s when he was getting me a bit,” Munguia commented.
To date, he hasn’t had the kind of win that demonstrates his ability to challenge for the middleweight belt. In his post-fight interview, the winner of this weekend’s fight stated that he planned to fight for one of the four main titles over the next few years.
“We’re ready for a world title in the coming year or an elimination bout,” Munguia remarked. “We’re ready for each of those things.” Let’s see how ready is.