LAS VEGAS -- Jaime Munguia came out throwing early and often and didn't seem intimidated by Canelo Alvarez. Perhaps he should have been.
Munguia made it a fun fight, but he had neither the defensive prowess nor the power necessary to deal with the undisputed super middleweight champion in their bout Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez dropped Munguia with a crushing right uppercut in the fourth and landed the bigger and better blows most of the fight.
Alvarez won by scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 in front of an energetic crowd of 17,462. KevinIole.com had it 117-110 for Alvarez.
"I took my time because I have a lot of experience," Alvarez said in response to Munguia's fast start. " ... I knew I had 12 rounds to win the fight, and I did."
Munguia wasn't intimidated and went right at Alvarez at the opening bell. But he wasn't setting up punches and was only throwing volume at Alvarez, who is far too smart to lose to that. Munguia backed him in the corner in the fourth with a flurry, including a good right to the chin. But Alvarez slipped out of the corner and ripped a right uppercut that deposited Munguia onto the seat of his pants.
He got up on unsteady legs, but was able to continue.
And he did the same thing for the rest of the fight. He made it a fun show. He went after Alvarez and forced him to defend. But Alvarez has been in with the era's greatest boxers and he didn't see anything that surprised him.
He punished Munguia with sharp counters to the head and life-sucking hooks to the midsection.
It was a fun show for what it was, but Munguia, despite a 43-0 record coming into the fight, wasn't nearly on Canelo's level. That played out in the fight as Alvarez cruised.
He's such an elite talent that he needs to be paired with the only other super middleweight who is remotely close to him. And while he's said repeatedly he wasn't interested in fighting David Benavidez, after the fight, he seemed to be open to it.
"I dont give a shit," Alvarez said in English, beaming, after listing a portion of the great fighters he's met.
That would be a fight worthy of the absurd $90 pay-per-view price and the astronomical ticket prices they charged on Saturday. And it would be one that would attract interest from all corners of the world, not just Mexico.
Alvarez connected on 234 of 536 punches, as tracked by CompuBox. Munguia was 170 of 663.