By Cliff Rold

He came into the ring smiling, bouncing on his toes, and hardly looking like a man headed into the biggest fight of his career.  At the final bell, the smile, the almost eerie calm, remained.

In a performance that should seal his place on any reputable pound-for-pound list, 26-year old WBC Jr. Bantamweight titlist Cristian Mijares (35-3-2, 14 KO) of Mexico put on a masterful display of offense, defense, and more defense, to soundly defeat 29-year old WBA titlist Alexander Munoz (32-3, 27 KO) of Venezuela, unifying the two titles on Saturday night at the Auditorio Centenario in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. 

That Mijares was forced to settle only for a split-decision victory was through no fault of his own as he did everything that could be asked of him, coming up 116-111 on the Maxboxing/Boxingscene card.  It was a fight that almost lived up to its billing as the best match made at 115 since Johnny Tapia unified the WBO and IBF belts with Danny Romero in 1997.

Both came out tentative in the opening seconds, testing the range of the bout with safe jabs as they circled the ring.  Munoz let loose with a long lead right uppercut that missed wildly but then moments later clipped Mijares with a right to the nose, following the stylist into the corner as Mijares slipped a barrage.  The southpaw Mijares took the fight back to mid-ring, connecting with some sharp right jabs and a sneaky counter left before tasting another Munoz right.  Yet another would connect to the body, followed by a left hook upstairs for Munoz, as the bell clanged to end the first.

The second again began tentatively before opening up at the halfway point.  Munoz landed a hard left hook only to watch Mijares slip three follow-up shots and fire back with a straight right.  Similar exchanges would play out for the rest of the round, Munoz able to land one at a time but rarely in combination and Mijares scoring on counters after deft defensive displays.

Munoz began varying the angle of his right in the third, landing it both down the pipe and underneath.  Mijares rode most of the shots, blocking, slipping and sliding but offering a smaller selection of punches.  Those he did throw connected with accuracy in the form of a snapping jab and some short inside rights and lefts.  Munoz landed a glancing right just after the bell that brought a respectful nod from both fighters.

Round four featured a masterful technical display from Mijares.  Steady behind his jab, Mijares picked his spots, opening up with offense anytime he could get Munoz leaning forward, making his opponent miss when he couldn’t.  The mastery continued in the fifth.  Even with a small mouse under his right eye, Mijares fought as if he saw the incoming before it was thrown.  Even against the ropes, Munoz found his body shots hitting gloves, his uppercuts hitting air.

Between rounds, Munoz’s corner exhibited near panic but Munoz merely breathed deep, his calm that of a veteran who had been there before.  Following a point deduction for hitting behind the head (both had been warned previously), Munoz attempted to show off some of that veteran will, landing a hard right to the body but then finding his four follow-up shots blocked or gliding past the target.

Recognizing the hole being dug on the scorecards, Munoz came to life early in the seventh, letting loose with a slamming right uppercut, then a left uppercut, and some of the best straight rights of the fight.  Mijares answered with a flush left-right but Munoz continued to move his hands in his best round of the fight up to then.  Both men were warned again for hitting behind the head in the clinches.

A right hand from Munoz brought a roar from the crowd at the start of the eighth as the Venezuelan bomber looked to maintain what momentum he’d built in the previous round.  A right uppercut combination, one to the body and another to the head, followed but as the round wore on, the accumulation of missed shots and anger over fouls in the clinches had Munoz wearing the mask of a frustrated man.  A short left hook from Mijares prior to the bell hurt Munoz badly and nearly had him wearing the mask of a beaten one. 

The expression didn’t change much in the ninth, the best of the fight for Mijares.  While Munoz did land some solid shots, most of them were taken by a Mijares who was turning with them, taking the steam off.  Munoz was not so fortunate in his receipt of punishment, appearing stunned more than once as Mijares continued to land long rights and left hooks to the head and body.

His legs weak, Munoz refused to stop throwing in the tenth, a religious faith in his power the only prayer he had left as the championship rounds loomed.  The willingness to throw meant more opportunity for Mijares to make him miss, and pay, and he did both.  Most alarming was a four punch combination begun with a straight right, all of which landed flush and left Munoz swaying only for the veteran to plant his feet and start over again.  The eleventh was more of the same, leaving Munoz with only the hope of a sensational knockout to steal victory back from the jaws of defeat.

It was not to be.  Instead, Munoz was left to survive the frame as Mijares did his best to further the pain he’d rendered all night, pursuing his own knockout to close the show.  Munoz never stopped throwing, Mijares rarely failed to connect and both heard the final bell.  There was little doubt that Mijares had painted a gem. 

Unfortunately, only two of the judges had noticed.  Mijares triumphed on the cards by split decision, assisted 116-111 on the card Burt Clemens and 115-112 from Marty Sammon.  The third card, from Panama’s Gustavo Padilla, surprisingly read 115-113 for Munoz. 

The third card will certainly draw speculation about politics being at play.

As noted over the weekend by Fightnews.com, the WBA, whose title Munoz wore into the ring, had protested the selection of officials prior to the fight.  Their official statement prior to the bout read: “Considering the enormous importance that this bout has for the world and following the usual process of officials’ selection, the WBA sent a list with five suggested names to the Federation of Mexican Boxing Commissions (Federación de Comisiones de Boxeo Mexicanas). However, only Panama’s Gustavo Padilla was accepted. Americans Burt Clemens and Marty Sammon were appointed as the other two judges while Jon Schorle, also from the US, will be the referee. Therefore, the WBA cannot guarantee the result of this fight if it goes the distance and eventually will not accept any complaint from any of the boxers. Also, the WBA considers that a great opportunity to prove the world that Latin American officials are in the same level with their American colleagues has been wasted due to this invasive attitude from a national commission that has not respected the appointments made by two international sanctioning bodies like the WBA and the WBC."

As can be noted, it was ultimately the WBA’s handpicked official who came up with the scorecard in favor of the WBA titlist Munoz.  None of that takes away from what had been a game effort from both men and a display of great veteran courage from Munoz, who earned a solid rest.  Mijares now can turn to the only other man in the division who can contest his claim to being the very best at 115 lbs., fellow Mexican and WBO titlist Fernando Montiel (36-2-1, 27 KO).

Mijares-Munoz was not the only keeper on the card.

In an all-Mexico sanctioning body eliminator at Flyweight, WBC #3 Julio Cesar Miranda (26-3-1, 19 KO) of Tampico outlasted WBC #4 Omar Salado (19-1, 11 KO) of Tijuana in a savage five-round war.  Both men came in aged 28, but exchanged the sort of violence that should have each feeling fifty come the morning. 

Miranda and Salado weighed in just below the division limit of 112 at 111.8 lbs on Friday.

Round one featured thrilling two-way action.  Miranda came out tense, shaking his arms as if still trying to warm up.  It turned out he was just loading up.  With little more than a minute gone by, Salado landed a clipping right hand that brought a slamming right-left combo from Miranda, dropping Salado against the ropes.  Salado rose to complete the mandatory eight-count and then covered up as Miranda poured in with lethal intent.  Weathering the storm and getting his feet beneath him, Salado began firing with authority, stunning Miranda with a left hook and getting the better of sustained exchange between both men up to the bell.

The second was almost all Salado.  Growing confidence from his brave stand in the first, Salado came forward behind the jab, firing pinpoint counter punches that repeatedly beat Miranda to the mark.  A right hand pinned Miranda to the ropes down the stretch, bringing a roar from the crowd as each man opened up.

Miranda doubled up on the jab early in the third to open up some hard right hands but soon returned to firing one power punch at a time without setting the table first.  Miranda also flirted with switching to southpaw in the round.  Salado continued to control the action regardless of the stance in front of him.

That would not be the case in the fourth.  After two minutes of solid boxing from Salado, Miranda crashed home with a harsh left hand, wobbling Salado and taking charge of the exchanges from there.  For the first time since the first, it was Salado regularly on the backfoot as the power punching Tampico native came forward.

The war culminated in round number five.  Having found his way back into the scrap in the fourth, Miranda continued to pressure, winging nasty rights and lefts as Salado visibly weakened.  One of those shots, a slashing left, brought a trough of blood from the nose of Salado whose punches seemed to have lost all of their snap.  Finally, a winging left swooped towards the jaw of Saladao, his knees sent fluttering as he tumbled backwards from mid-ring to the ropes, Miranda in hot pursuit.  Two more flush lefts landed with Salado pinned down, brining the referee in for the stoppage at 1:16 of the fifth.

Miranda now turns his attention to a shot at lineal World Flyweight champion, and WBC beltholder, Daisuke Naito (32-2-3, 20 KO) of Japan.  Whether the eliminator he survived on Saturday will equal an immediate title shot may hinge on what Japanese mega-star Koki Kameda (17-0, 11 KO) elects to do.  One of the biggest gate draws in the world below Featherweight, Kameda is rated #2 by the WBC and may have the immediate inside track for a shot at Naito.

Based on his efforts versus Salado, Miranda against Naito or Kameda, spotted on the night accompanying Mijares to the ring for the main event, would be a bout to look forward to.

Crisitian Mijares’s little brother Ricardo Mijares (12-0, 11 KO), 135, was also in action, stopping Arnoldo Pacheco (5-4), 131 in three.  The young knockout artist fought at a measured pace through the first two rounds, using his 5’10 frame and long left jab to keep Pacheco on the outside until a sizzling right uppercut sent his foe sprawling.  Pacheco rose early in the count but circled around without responding to the referee, leading the official to stop the affair at :34 seconds of the third. 

Other Televised Action

Jr. Lightweights: Enrique Lopez (5-0-1, 2 KOs) W UD4 Vicente Hernandez (3-5)
Jr. Lightweights: Marvin Rodriguez (19-4-2, 12 KO) W UD4 Tomas Sierra (5-3)
Welterweights: Iván Pereyra (2-0) W UD4 Jairo Castañeda (1-1)

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com