Jaime Munguia Defeats Gab Rosado in a Barn Burner

The pride of Tijuana, Jaime Munguia (38-0, 30 KOs), had a thrilling victory over the fierce warrior “King” Gabriel Rosado (26-14-1, 15 KOs) retaining his undefeated status and the WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight World title at Anaheim’s Honda Center. The scheduled 12-round middleweight ‘Fight of the Year’ contender added another epic battle to the boxing rivalry of Mexico vs. Puerto Rico. The event which started off slow as the fighters adjusted to each other changed pace in the fourth round as Rosado launched an attack that surprised Munguia. However, Munguia did not retreat, instead he returned, as both fighters took turns landing power shots to the body.

The action continued into the sixth round with Munguia catching Rosado with straight rights to the head, but that didn’t stop Rosado, he pushed forward catching Munguia with right hooks of his own. At one point in the seventh round Rosado egged on Munguia to hit him after they both got tangled and went down on the canvas. The championship rounds had the crowd cheering on their feet as Munguia launched an attack on Rosado, catching him often with his straight rights visibly shaking Rosado, but the Puerto Rican warrior kept pushing forward. As the fight went to the scorecards, the judges ruled in favor of Munguia via unanimous decision with scores of 118-110, 119-109, and 117-111.

“I didn’t think that Rosado would last that long in the ring,” said Jaime Munguia. “He was very resilient, but I think I showed in the ninth round and on that I was dominating the fight. I am happy we were able to take the victory today. Now, I want to go back to the gym, work on a few things and fight for a world title eliminator or a world championship at 160.”

“I think I did all I could to win, the score cards are bullshit. I won the fight,” said Gabriel Rosado
“I think Munguia showed a lot of strength and a lot of heart today. Rosado show a lot of a guts, they really left it all in the ring. I want to thank them both for giving us the ‘Fight of the Year,” said Oscar de La Hoya.

“Both fighters gave us a show today,” said Erik Morales. “Rosado was very tough, resilient. He surprised us all. It was a good showing from Munguia. I am very proud of him, he showed, bravery and strength in the ring tonight.”
“I think both fighters were very brave, very tough,” said Freddie Roach. “I think that the scores should have been closer than they were, but you know, that’s boxing. But overall, a very exciting fight, I think maybe ‘Fight of the Year.’”