By Jake Donovan
Jaime Munguia (32-0, 26KOs) makes the fourth defense of his super welterweight title, facing mandatory challenger Dennis Hogan (28-1-1, 7KOs) atop a DAZN-USA show streaing live from the sold-out Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.
The bout is Munguia’s eighth in a span of just 16 months, including five title fights inside of a year. Hogan—a 34 year old Irish boxer who lives and trains in Australia—enters his first career title fight along with fighting in Mexico for the first time in his career.
Also on the show, Diego de la Hoya (21-0, 10KOs) makes his long overdue featherweight debut as he faces countryman Enrique Bernache (24-12, 12KOs).
Interestingly, the bout is also the first time in his career that the Mexicali-born and raised de la Hoya fights in Mexico. It’s also his first piece of ring action since last June, having lost out on a November homecoming in Mexicali due to dehydration after having missed weight.
UNDERCARD
Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira attempted to win over the crowd in a ring entrance accompanied by Mariachi music and sporting a sombrero and Mexican flag. None of that mattered once the opening bell sounded, as he was booed in each and every round of his 10-round majority decision win over Chihuahua’s Mario Lozano.
Scores were surprisingly close at 95-95 even and 96-94 in favor of Teixeira in a largely monotonous super welterweight affair which picked up steam down the stretch.
Heading into the night, Teixera was adamant about wanting to next fight unbeaten 154-pound titlist Jaime Munguia. The 6’0” southpaw didn’t do himself any favors in this bout, sticking and moving for most of the night and rarely committing to any of his punches.
Lozano sought to make it a dogfight, but came in straight forward looking for a home run shot while all but abandoning his jab. The crude attack of the Mexican veteran made things easier for Teixeira to box from the outside, although the boos from the crowd increased with each passing round.
Fatigue began to set in a bit for Teixeira late, as he was forced to fend off a brave stand by an onrushing Lozano. At the very least, it woke up the crowd as action picked up in the final two rounds. It also dramatically closed the gap on the scorecards, as Lozano surprisingly pulled even on one card, but his rally coming too late to pull off the upset.
Lozano falls to 33-9 (24KOs), snapping a six-fight win streak with the defeat.
Teixeira advances to 30-1 (22KOs) with the win, but a title fight in his future would come only if the team at Golden Boy Promotions believes it would be time to cash out. The 28-year old hasn’t shown much improvement even since his lone loss to Curtis Stevens nearly three years ago.
Arely Mucino made the second successful defense of her third flyweight title reign, scoring a hard-fought 10-round decision over Venezuela’s Yarineth Altuve. Scores were 98-90 (twice) and 97-91 in favor of Mucino, who scored two knockdowns but who was forced to overcome late drama in order to retain her title.
An incredible amount of action was crammed into their 20-minute slugfest, with both boxers gunning for a knockout from the opening bell. Mucino—a huge crowd favorite fighting in her Monterrey hometown for the 15th time in her career—took the fight directly to Altuve, loading up on left hooks and was particularly punishing to the body.
Altuve came back strong in round two, connecting with right hands in looking to win the only way she’s known how as a pro, with all 10 career wins coming by way of knockout. Yet it was Mucino who landed the bout’s first knockdown. The sequence was suspect, as the left hook to the body which froze Altuve was far more convincing than the right forearm which appeared to shove her to the canvas.
It ultimately proved moot as Mucino remained in control for most of the rest of the night. Altuve had her moments in round six, landing a pair of right hands to momentarily back up the defending titlist, but the momentum shift ultimately short-lived.
Mucino came storming right back in round seven, flooring Altuve for a second time and this one free of controversy. A looping right hand to the body from the champ followed a wild overhand right from Altuve, who was forced to a knee in suffering her second knockdown of the fight after having never previously been floored in her career.
A last ditch effort by the visiting challenger began with a check left hook just before the bell to end round nine. Mucino was wobbled and possibly concussed, as she kept complaining of headbutts that simply weren’t occurring. She was given extra time to clear the cobwebs prior to the start of the 10th and final round when the ringside physician called time to examine a developing mouse under her left eye.
The two fought on even terms in the final two-minute frame, which left Altuve only with a moral victory as she needed to land at least more big bomb to steal a victory.
Mucino improves to 28-3-2 (10KOs), having won seven straight since a title-losing effort to Jessica Chavez in Sept. ’15. The local favorite—who turns 30 in May–became a three-time titlist with a decision win over Monserrat Alacorn last February.
The second title defense of Mucino’s third reign was originally slated to come against England’s two-time Olympic Gold medalist Nicola Adams. Their bout was due to take place in March, but Adams suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw.
She instead settled on Altuve, who falls to 10-3 (10KOs). All three career losses have come in title fights and all within her last four starts, having dropped a pair of controversial decisions to Leonela Paola Yudica last year.
Javier ‘Rusito’ Gonzalez had every statistical and physical advantage over Saul ‘Piloto’ Gonzalez but seemed to simply settle for what was in front of him in taking a unanimous decision in their six-round lightweight encounter.
Scores were 60-54 across the board for Durango’s Javier Gonzalez (15-0, 11KOs), a former amateur standout for Mexico who has now gone the distance in three of his last four starts. The bout was largely one way, save for a brief moment in round three when Saul Gonzalez (3-2, 2KOs) managed a right hand shot to briefly startle the unbeaten prospect.
Javier Gonzalez picked up the aggression in the back half of the contest, equally affective between conventional stance and when he switched to southpaw. Guadalajara’s Saul Gonzalez sought to go for broke in the final round, but Javier Gonzalez was surprisingly engaging down the stretch where he could’ve easily coasted to victory.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
