In an electric night of boxing at the Toyota Center on Saturday night, WBO Junior World Middleweight Titlist Jaime Munguia went the distance and ultimately defended his belt against Takeshi Inoue by unanimous decision. In the co-main event, after twelve rounds of fireworks, Xu Can upset Jesus Rojas to become the new WBA Featherweight Champion. Vergil Ortiz Jr. also put on a dominating performance against Jesus Valdez, winning by TKO at the end of the fifth round.
Jaime Munguia
“It was a great fight. He was a great warrior. It was a great battle for me. I was surprised by his ability to take punches. He took a lot of punches to the head and to the body. He took punches that would have dropped anyone else. I feel I got a lot of experience from this fight. I will keep working on using my distance. There were times where he was able to cut the distance, and I want to work on that.”
Was he surprised Inoue was able to take all of his big shots? “I was surprised by him. He did great. But, I also received a lot of punches on the back of my head. But, I’ll take the title, I got the win, and that’s what matters.”
Was coming down to 154 hard for him and have any effect on his conditioning? “I don’t think so. There was no problem. After a few fights, I’m going to stay at 160.”
Demetrius Andrade tweeted that he wants to face you at 160, what’s your response? “Yes, of course. I accept the challenge.”
Takeshi Inoue
“With 31 wins and no losses, Munguia was not just a power puncher but a great boxer. We both had the skill to kill the other’s boxing style. He was the better fighter tonight. I hope to get better and come back to the United States to fight again.”
Xu Can
On his win: “This is my second time to come to the USA to fight. Before I came here, I knew it’s a very hard fight. So I got ready for this fight. I did a lot of work for this. So, thank you everyone. I respect my opponent, Rojas, my friend, he’s very tough, very strong punch. But I knew I can win this fight. I can, I can!”
Where did the power come from? “It’s from China. I am Chinese – for the country! I knew I can defeat this fighter, I knew I can defend his punch, even though his punch is very strong, but I had confidence in my defense. I just punched, defend, punched, defend, punched, defend.”
Who does he want next? “I’m not scared of anyone.”
Jesus Rojas
“I don’t feel the decision was correct. I don’t know what to say. I’m surprised. I spoke to Golden Boy Promotions, and I want the rematch. I think we worked well, used my jab and I want the fight. Of course I want the rematch.”
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
On his win and how he thinks the fight went: “I felt like I could have done better. It didn’t go how I wanted it go to. This is how the sport works. I’ll learn from this. I hope that all my fans out there enjoyed it. I really appreciate everyone. I love you guys and I couldn’t do it without you.”
On whether he was surprised about Valdez’s willpower: “I gotta give credit to him. He has a lot of heart. He has a lot of balls. As a fighter I really respect him. I can only respect him for doing with he did in there.”
What’s next? “Honestly, I’m waiting for a world title shot. It could be the next fight. I want to be the next world champion out of Dallas, Texas.”
Mexican warrior Jaime Munguia (32-0, 26 KOs) successfully defended his WBO Junior Middleweight World Title by defeating Japanese contender Takeshi Inoue (13-1-1, 7 KOs) via 12-round unanimous decision at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. After a tough battle, Munguia won with scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109. The action was streamed live on DAZN – which is just $9.99 per month after a one-month free trial.
“It was a great fight. He was a great warrior,” said Jaime Munguia. “It was a great battle for me. I was surprised by his ability to take punches. He took a lot of punches to the head and to the body. He took punches that would have dropped anyone else. I feel I got a lot of experience from this fight. I will keep working on using my distance. There were times where he was able to cut the distance, and I want to work on that.”
“With 31 wins and no losses, Munguia was not just a power puncher but a great boxer,” said Takeshi Inoue. “We both had the skill to kill the other’s boxing style. He was the better fighter tonight. I hope to get better and come back to the United States to fight again.”
In the co-main event, Xu Can (16-2, 2 KOs) of Kumming, China became the new WBA Featherweight Champion by defeating Jesus Rojas (26-3-2, 19 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico via unanimous decision in an action-packed battle. Can won with scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.
“This is my second time coming to the USA to fight,” said Xu Can. “Before I came here, I knew it was going to be a very hard fight. So I got ready for this fight. I did a lot of work for this. So, thank you to everyone. I respect my opponent, Rojas, my friend; he’s very tough. But I knew I can win. I can! I can! I knew I can defeat this fighter. I knew I can defend his punch, even though his punch is very strong, but I had confidence in my defense. I just punched, defend, punched, defend, punched, defend.”
“I don’t feel the decision was correct,” said Jesus Rojas. “I don’t know what to say. I’m surprised. I spoke to Golden Boy Promotions, and I want the rematch. I think we worked well. I used my jab and I want the fight. Of course, I want the rematch.
Vergil Ortiz (12-0, 12 KOs) of Dallas, Texas stopped Jesus Valdez (23-5-1, 12 KOs) of Huatabampo, Mexico via TKO in the fifth round due to a severe cut on Valdez’s left eye in a super lightweight fight originally scheduled for ten rounds.
“Fighting a southpaw for the first time as a pro is the same for me, but the range is different,” said Vergil Ortiz. “I just had to make and execute a game plan. I thought it would go longer, but I’m grateful for the good will he had in the ring. I’m so happy to have fought in Texas!”
Alex Rincon (6-0, 5 KOs) of Dallas, Texas defeated Jeremy Ramos (10-6, 4 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico via unanimous decision in a six-round super welterweight battle. Rincon won with scores of 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56.
“I felt real good in there,” said Alex Rincon. “I brought the fans from back home, and we have a lot of family here. Now everyone knows who the Rincon brothers are. Ramos was very awkward. When you catch him with hard shots, he comes back harder. We stuck to the game plan, and that’s why we won.”
Alberto Melian (4-0, 3 KOs) of Buenos Aires, Argentina became the new NABA Super Bantamweight Champion by defeating Edgar Ortega (10-2-2, 5 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico via TKO in the final round of a 10-round battle. The fight was stopped at 1:33 of the aforementioned round.
“I was working the distance,” said Alberto Melian. “I knew he [Ortega] was strong. When I found my distance, then I imposed myself more. That’s how I got the knockout at the end. This is about patient work, so if the knockout comes, then it comes. We had great preparation at Churchill Boxing in Santa Monica.”
George Rincon (6-0, 3 KOs) of Dallas, Texas defeated Emmanuel Valadez (5-7, 4 KOs) of Agua Prieta, Mexico via TKO in the first round of a super lightweight bout originally scheduled for six rounds. Rincon won with time a of 1:36 of the aforementioned round.
“I feel good,” said George Rincon. “I went in there trying not to rush. There’s never an opponent who is not dangerous because we are all out here fighting to provide for those we love and entertain those we don’t. He [Valadez] didn’t make it out of the first round, so I’m happy with that.”
Oscar de la Hoya
On the upcoming Canelo vs. Jacobs fight: “It’s a 50-50 fight. It’s a tough fight. He’s what they call ‘The Miracle Man,’ coming back from cancer, coming back from getting knocked down. He has a lot of heart and that’s very dangerous when you have a fighter like Jacobs. He has power, strength, speed, but most importantly, willpower.”
Will Canelo vs. GGG 3 happen? “There’s no doubt whatsoever. Canelo wants to fight the very best. And I can assure you in the third time around, Canelo will knock him out.”
12-round WBO Junior Middleweight Title Bout @ 154 lbs.
Jaime Munguia vs. Takeshi Inoue
Jaime Munguia (32-0, 26 KOs) def. Takeshi Inoue (13-1-1, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision
(120-108, 120-108, 119-109)
12-round WBA Featherweight Title Bout @ 126 lbs.
Xu Can (16-2, 2 KOs) def. Jesus Rojas (26-3-2, 19 KOs) by unanimous decision.
(118-110,117-111,116-112)
10-round Super Lightweight Bout @ 144 lbs.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (12-0, 12 KOs) def. Jesus Valdez (23-5-1, 12 KOs) by TKO at the end of Round 5
Boxing on DAZN returns Saturday, Feb. 9 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California when Junior Lightweight Titlist Alberto Machado defends his belt against Andrew Cancio.
