Yes I know I am late to the dance. I still have not watched all twelve rounds of the Teofimo Lopez vs Josh Taylor fight and planned a quick recap of it as well. Munguia won this fight which I am aware of but have yet to watch as of my time typing. In this post I am hoping to do a full scorecard and analysis of the fight.
Round 1: Munguia comes out boxing, he sticks the jab out as a constant threat. SD continues to bob and weave to evade the jab then attempts to close in. Munguia intelligently backs out of range and stays on the jab. About thirty seconds into the round and neither man has connected on anything significant. The fight continues to get scrappier and scrappier as the time elapses and SD finally connects on a right hand. Like Arturo Gatti, Munguia’s warrior brain kicks in and he goes from boxing to trading. They exchange blows with Munguia ripping a left hook to the body and SD landing a few overhand rights that seem to wobble Munguia a little. SD appears to have timed the jab already and slips it and begins to counter it. A big overhand right from SD turns Munguia’s head and drives him to the ropes. Munguia fights his way off the ropes and scores a strong uppercut. Very competitive round but SD does the cleaner more effective work. SD 10-9
Round 2: A little more roughhousing in this round. SD knows he is at a reach disadvantage and cannot stay in range too long. SD has opted to slip his way in then score and hold. SD has elected to wrestle a little on the inside, not knowing how this plays out makes me wonder if he is going to fatigue down the stretch. The commentary team said that SD turned down money to make this a ten round fight after signing the contract to be a twelve round fight. Short left high on the head rocks SD who retreats. Munguia measured, attacks SD carefully who swings aggressively like a wounded animal lashing back. Munguia for the first time puts SD’s back on the ropes and rips shots including a hard left to the body. SD comes back with a Joe Frazier like series of dipping and rising left hooks; one of which scores but seems to lack power to do much damage. Leopard shirt wearing Oscar De La Hoya stands up and begins throwing air punches. SD opens up to score back and is nailed again by a short left and as he leans in Munguia pushes him down to the canvas. Munguia rips his 1-2 then 1-2-3 body and SD presses at him seeing his moment to get him to the ropes and get rest. Munguia with another bad habit backed straight to the ropes and SD nodded his head and gave a half smile of relief appearing to catch his breath, regain his legs and show his confidence. SD fires off a hard 1-2 and catches Munguia’s attention. 10-9 Munguia 19-19 even
Round 3: Both men elect to box in the first minute of the round as SD looks to get his legs back under him and Munguia knowing the threat posed has decided to play cautious. Munguia showing better defense this round scores a counter left hook that sends SD back on his heels. SD drags Munguia back into a firefight and scores some short inside punches and pushes Munguia down to the canvas. SD continues to throw in combination and a left snaps Munguia’s head back as SD continues to work and press the advantage. SD proves he is more resourceful inside by winning the hand fighting and using his shoulder to create space then score. Munguia rallies late but SD scores in between. They both can hurt each other but Munguia’s single shots seem more effective. 10-9 SD 29-28 SD
Round 4: Sd opens the round back on the move, circles right to avoid that punch. In the opening minute SD puts on a show ducking and slipping Munguia’s work. The two exchange jabs at mid range without either scoring effectively or gaining an advantage. Near the end of the second minute, Munguia unloads with combinations but everything comes up short. Munguia walks SD into an uppercut and goes back to work throwing and scores a left hook and right hook to the body. Head clash, Munguia’s right eye showing damage. 10-9 Munguia 38-38 Even
Round 5: Munguia appears to have found his range and has SD just at the end of his jab. Sets up his offense with the jab and then brings a right over the top and a left hook underneath and traps SD on the ropes. SD fights his way off the ropes as they exchange and a short stiff jab catches Munguia’s attention. They throw left hooks at the same time and SD’s rocks the head back and sends sweat flying as Munguia falls back toward the corner. SD all over him, the ref calls a break but Munguia keeps punching. They separate and SD goes back to work pouring it on and sneaks in a straight right hand that spins Munguia’s head. SD looks like he emptied the magazine and starts breathing heavily and Munguia scores a hard left to the body. Munguia scores two hard left hooks. SD smothers his work a little and does not go to the body and Munguia elects to hold and refuse to let go until the ref forcefully gets in there. I like the way the ref is not over intervening. 10-9 SD 48-47 SD
Chris Mannix and I have the same score after five rounds. This has been a relatively easy fight to score. I’m not sure if there are any swing rounds
Round 6: A quiet round after the wild fifth. SD looks to catch his breath and Munguia seems like he is content to keep SD at the end of his jab and try to box his way to a quiet round in the bank. SD pushes Munguia to the ropes but does not score. Munguia’s left hook and right uppercut caused SD to retreat and a hard left hook scored moments later. This is the first tough round to score but I think the harder punches of Munguia saw him through it. 10-9 Munguia 57-57 Even
Round 7: Munguia is keeping this fight at range in round seven and jabbing. His punches appear slower and the jab followed by the right combination he uses to set up his left hook is coming up short. SD sees the attacks coming but at the same time is not countering and making Munguia pay a price. Munguia fired off a hard right cross over the glove of SD. Munguia attacks with straights before they swap left hooks again. 10-9 Munguia 67-66 Munguia another close and debatable round.
Round 8: SD out jabbing consistently trying to seize the initiative. Munguia jabs SD to the ropes but is unable to score effectively. Right hand dips SD’s knees and it was tough to tell if the glove touched. SD jab, jab then left hook sends him to the ropes. 10-9 SD 76-76 Even
Mannix has it 77-75 SD with the sixth round being the only difference between us; one of the two rounds I felt were swing rounds.
Round 9: SD comes out jabbing and Munguia’s jab is not persistent nor effective to begin the round. The shorter SD is able to close the gap without much resistance as Munguia just takes the shots. Fatigue setting in? SD’s jab connects hard and the left eye is showing damage. Munguia tries to open up and is countered hard. Again, SD shifts and lands a hard jab that backs him off. This is a different boxing type of round for SD and less ambush and slugfest like he won earlier rounds. SD continues the jab to the head and uses it as a short power punch then scores a hard left hook. 10-9 SD 86-85 SD first lead for him since the end of the fifth on my score. Munguia looks tired and lost on his stool.
Round 10: SD strafing Munguia with short straight lefts and rights and bouncing out of the way. Munguia’s mouth is wide open and he is taking shots. Munguia tries to throw but misses and is caught with a quick peppering of shots. The left hook from Munguia makes SD fall back but tough to tell if he was hurt or off balance. SD rips a left hook of his own to the body; this is a punch he has neglected. SD’s head movement and slips have been superb in this round. With about forty seconds to go SD put on a show as Munguia missed wide on multiple attempts. Munguia had a strong finish to the round and scored a few hard right hands but it was not enough. 10-9 SD 96-94 SD
Round 11: Munguia trying to go to work but SD is smothering him. The hard left hook from Munguia backs off SD and then he scores a 1-2. Munguia is going to work on SD and he scores a hard uppercut. Munguia in full control but not going for broke or pressing the attack. 10-9 Munguia 105-104 SD huge momentum swing. Fight up for grabs in the final round.
Round 12: Energized crowd meets the energy of both fighters who have spring in their step and are going for it. Munguia lands a solid left to the body as SD bounces away and Munguia is looking to stay on the hook. Two more body left hooks come in and SD falls to the canvas! He is down on a knee with his glove down as the crowd roars with excitement. SD on the run, every blow does damage. Oscar back to the air punches ringside. Both men go down on a tackle as they rise and Munguia goes right to the body. Munguia’s mouth is wide open as Munguia tries to slip and roll. Munguia angry taunts him and neither raise a glove as the bell rings. 10-8 Munguia
Final: 114-113 Munguia
Official judges: 115-112 114-113 114-113 Unanimous Decision Jaime Munguia
I have to pat myself on the back with this one citing my prediction post. I predicted SD would build a lead and then succumb to Munguia’s punching power down the stretch. SD had the fight in the bag after ten rounds and if he agreed to the ten rounder he would have won! I still cannot believe Munguia won; he looked like a beaten man on his stool after the tenth round was over. He was gassed, bruised and looked demoralized but dug deep to win the eleventh round and the twelfth round. Many online were quick to call this one a robbery and I again will say no. I felt this fight was actually pretty easy to score with rounds one through five clear cut and rounds eight through twelve pretty clear cut. In reality the win for Munguia is more than fair though Lou Moret had it 115-112 and I am not sure which round you would flip. Maybe he gave Munguia round one or eight as those were the only rounds at all close.
Munguia’s performance is a mixed bag for me as he had a lot of ups and downs in this bout. I found myself impressed with his boxing ability behind the jab. There were a couple of rounds he won from the outside which is usually not his strong point. He stayed with the jab even when it was countered. Munguia showed great punch resistance riding out punches that would have ended other fights and showed terrific resolve to come back in the last two rounds. While I want to praise his conditioning; he was gassed in the tenth and it was miraculous that he summoned the strength to do it. He was not thoroughly boxed like he has been in other fights and a lot of his struggles came when countered during exchanges. He suffered more aggressive mistakes than self-inflicted ones. Overall it was a great fight that all fans should check out.
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