By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and much respected contributor to www.dmboxing.com since 2008

Jamie Munguia faced his toughest fight in his 44^th fight against one of the best fighters of this generation, Canelo Alvarez and Munguia would be part of an Alvarez tradition of the Cinco de Mayo weekend where Alvarez was 9-1 with his only loss to undefeated light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.  This was the first time two Mexican fighters fought for an undisputed championship fight. And this was the first super Middleweight championship bout featuring two Mexican born fighters and in fact this was the first world title bout above 160 pounds featuring two Mexican fighters.  So, this weekend history was being made.

Munguia took the center as the crowd was excited.  Munguia jabs to set the range and starts aggressively. Canelo goes to the body with a glancing right while Munguia jab looks fast as he jabs to the body and ties up Alvarez as Alvarez comes forward. Alavarez lands left hooks to the body and then lands a right hand to the other side.  Munguia wants this to be a brawl.

Alvarez in the second round takes the middle of ring but Munguia is letting his punches earlier and landing jabs.  Munguia landing straight punches and forcing Canelo to lean back but Canelo work the body.  The score was 10-9 and 20-1 after two rounds.

Munguia pumping jab and following with right hand plus doubles up on left hook that cracked Canelo midsection.  Both men trade punches and Munguia throwing punches plenty of volume while cutting off the ring as he took the third round. Munguia using great head movement and throws punches in volume at the beginning of the fourth round but Canelo landed hooks to the body with upper cuts and sent Munguia down with a left hook and uppercut in the fourth round.  Alvarez won the fifth round with his body shots and cleaner punching After five rounds, I had it 49-44.

Canelo using left hook to counter Munguia jab and Canelo connected 1-2 and left hook along with body shot in the sixth round and at the halfway mark, Canelo landed 65 power shots and connecting at 47 percent  versus Munguia 42 power shots and only connecting at 30 percent.

Canelo came out firing in the seventh round, as Munguia tried to work his jab.  Munguia landed uppercuts and Alvarez retreated to the rope before he punched his way out of trouble I gave the round to Canelo. In the eighth round was Munguia round as he went to Canelo body and Munguia landed upper cuts but Alvarez jabbing effectively.  After eight rounds 78-73 in favor of the champion.

Canelo was using his jab as Munguia landed a straight right, and even landed big punches but Canelo landed his own power shots.  Munguia landed a volume of punches to take the round after nine rounds it was 87-83.  In the tenth round, Munguia tried to keep Alvarez on the rope, but Canelo stayed close to unleashing his power shots including upper cuts along with body shots.  The score in my view was 97 -92 with two rounds left. 

Round eleventh saw Munguia picking up the pace, but it didn’t stop Alvarez from scoring as he moved backward but as both fighters exchanged punches over the last thirty seconds and Munguia ended the round with a left hook.  With one more round, 106-102.

As the final round began, Munguia charged ahead as he figured he was behind on the cards, and he wasn’t wrong.  Canelo landed a pair of hooks and Munguia missed against Alvarez tight defense. Munguia missed shots and lost the decision, 116-111, 117-110, 115-113 and I had it 116-111.

The autonomy of Alvarez victory begins with Alvarez out landing Munguia in total punches 234 to 170 connecting on 44 percent of his punches whereas Munguia only landed 26 percent.  Alvarez out jab Munguia and landed more power punches.  Munguia failed to penetrate Alvarez defense.

Alvarez landed more combinations and when you look at three and four punch combinations, Alvarez landed 32 percent versus 25 percent for Munguia which led to significant differences between the two.

Alvarez was more efficient with his combinations punching and when you add all the data,  Alvarez was more efficient and accurate with his punches  and better at defending against Munguia. 

Munguia chose to fight and not be a punching bag but as he discovered, Alavarez was not easy to hit and could land power shots in return.  Munguia was competitive but while he was a good fighter, Alavarez was an elite fighter. 

As for Alvarez the one fight that everyone wants is David Benavidez but there is also a rematch with Dmitry Bivol and WBA has Edgar Berlanga as a mandatory challenger.  The biggest money makers will be Benavidez or Bivol. Bivol has its own potential fight against Artur Beterbiev, in a battle of undefeated light heavyweight.  Benavidez has been waiting for his shot at Alvarez. 

Like Alvarez, he has shown himself to be one of the best pounds for pound over the past two decades and his only losses were to the  great Floyd Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol.  And he has used the Cinco de Mayo weekend to highlight his greatness.