Key Fight Facts
- Jaime Munguia is the new WBO Super Middleweight champion after defeating Armando Resendiz, looking his best since his first championship win since 2018
- Oscar Duarte barely got past Angel Fierro, blaming the situation on Fierro coming in overweight for the fight
- Tito Sanchez scored a knockout win over Jorge Chavez
- Ismael Flores got the upset victory over previously undefeated Isaac Lucero, after taking the fight on just two weeks’ notice
The four undercard fights supporting the Cinco de Mayo card in Las Vegas delivered everything fans ask for: action, upsets, narrow escapes, and rising stars, with Mexican favorite Jaime Munguia returning to championship form.
Jaime Munguia is A Champion Again
The co-main event ringwalks drew huge cheers from the fans for Armando Resendiz of Nayarit, Mexico (16-3, 11 KOs) and Jaime Munguia of Tijuana, Mexico (46-2, 35 KOs) as they entered the T-Mobile Arena to contest the WBA Super Middleweight title held by Resendiz.
Although Resendiz gave it his best effort, he was no match for a revitalized Jaime Munguia, who had his best performance since winning his first world championship at super welterweight in an upset over Sadam Ali on May 12, 2018 to take the belt by decision.
Munguia dominated the fight, and the scorecards reflected it: 120-108 (Feldman), 119-109 (DeLuca), and 117-111 (Cheek).
Trainer Eddy Reynoso, who took on Munguia after his loss to Bruno Serace, had Munguia in phenomenal shape in their second fight together. Munguia also got a little advice from former opponent turned mentor Canelo Alvarez who was ringside cheering on Munguia, he was well prepared and in phenomenal physical condition.
“I felt excellent throughout the fight. I listened to my corner and that turned into great results for us,” said Munguia. “Everything went exactly as we had it contemplated before the fight. I wanted to KO him, but everything was outstanding.”
Munguia was the stronger fighter with faster hands and a more varied arsenal of punches. Resendiz was not going to give his title up easily, and he stood in front of Munguia bravely doing his best to push Munguia back and hurt him. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, but he wasn’t doing enough of anything. He never landed more than a single digit amount of punches in any of the 12 rounds.
Munguia handled the shots from El Toro well, never appearing hurt or buzzed. Munguia was willing to take a shot to land two (or more) of his own. He pummeled Resendiz to the body and head nearly at will.
Trainer Manny Robles knew the fight was slipping away, and told Resendiz he needed to get busy and let his punches go. But it wasn’t close and those rounds wouldn’t have mattered.
Upon hearing those magic words, “And the new!” Munguia let out a roar, then a few tears as he embraced Reynoso, Canelo, and the rest of his team in the ring.
“I had Resendiz against the ropes. I was on the verge of knocking him down in that last round. We tried our best to knock him out, but it wasn’t meant to be, and the win was ours.
“It feels great to have this championship belt with me, but this is just the beginning. I’m excited for what comes next. We are ready for big challenges and great fights.”
Oscar Duarte Gets A Break in Split-Decision Win
Oscar Duarte of Chihuahua, Mexico (31-2-1, 23 KOs) managed to squeak past a determined and tough Angel Fierro of Tijuana (23-5-2, 18 KOs) by split decision, winning the NABO and WBC Silver Super Lightweight titles. Scores were 116-112 and 115-113 for Duarte, and 116-112 for Fierro.
Fans didn’t like the result, booing the scores and booing Duarte during his post-fight interview.
“Listen, he didn’t make weight. This fight was close, but I feel I deserved the fight,” said Duarte. “What the people don’t understand is he didn’t make weight, he came in heavier. I respect him, but I believe I won this fight.”
Fierro came in at 3.4 pounds over the super-lightweight limit. He forfeited $40,000 of his $75,000 purse to Duarte. Duarte wasn’t going to let a second fight fall through after his title challenge fight against Richardson Hitchens earlier this year fell apart when a bad weight cut made Hitchens too ill to fight.
If it wasn’t in trainer Robert Garcia and Duarte’s game plan before, he used a body attack early and often. Duarte kept the pressure up, backing Fierro into the ropes as he could, adding uppercuts and hooks to the head.
At the end of the fourth round, Duarte scored a knockdown on a hard left hook at the end of a combination that landed after the bell. It was ruled correctly by referee Mark Nelson, who also went down along with Fierro.
Duarte smelled blood in the water and came out aggressively in round five. Through the early rounds it seemed like Duarte would roll to the win.
But Fierro found a second wind, and the fireball version of Fierro that took down Pitbull Cruz showed up in the second half of the fight, getting the better of Duarte, who began to tire.
“You gotta win those rounds. Don’t let them go, please! We need them, you hear me? He’s running and running. Let those hands go, combinations, speed, points. I want you to steal these last two rounds,” Garcia told Duarte.
After the loss, Fierro said, “I showed the people a different Tashiro—one with a real hunger to win. The people saw it; the judges didn’t,” asking for a rematch. “I’ll be back in the gym next week, more focused than ever, to push forward with my team.”
Sanchez Delivers Sensational Knockout Win Over Chavez
When you match up two undefeated volume punchers with something to prove, the fans are the winners. Super bantamweights Jorge Chavez of San Diego (15-1-1, 8 KOs) and José Tito Sanchez of Cathedral City, California (16-0, 10 KOs) delivered a ten-round slugfest from start to finish with no break in the action and no time to catch a breath. It was the best performance of the undercard, and maybe the entire night.
It was a shame there could only be one winner, and that man was Sanchez, who rallied in the final round to knockdown Chavez, then put him away for a knockout victory at 2:30 of the tenth and final round. Sanchez wins the WBC Continental Super Bantamweight title.
“I’m so excited,” said Sanchez of his victory. “I showed everyone what I was capable of on Cinco de Mayo weekend with the Mexican style. We displayed more power, and I had a high boxing IQ, picking my shots.”
Chavez got off to an early start, but Sanchez began coming on strong in the middle rounds just as Chavez seemed to be losing steam on his punches. Sanchez doubled down on his effort, landing combinations with Chavez only able to answer with single shots.
Chavez rallied in the ninth round, tagging Sanchez, who fought back. The crowd rose to its feet at the end of the round. In those three minutes, Chavez landed 36 of 102 punches thrown; Sanchez landed 43 of 134 punches thrown.
In the final round, Sanchez caught Chavez with a whipping right hook, and Chavez fell back on the canvas badly hurt. Chavez got up on wobbly legs, and he was allowed to continue. But not for long, as Sanchez ran toward Chavez and landed an uppercut that threw Chavez into the ropes for the victory.
Sanchez has now stopped five of his last seven opponents, and three in a row.
Chavez was disappointed over his first pro loss. “I’m disappointed, but I’m glad the crowd enjoyed the fight. At the end of the day, we are Mexicans, and we gave it everything we had. I feel like it was everybody’s night but mine. The best man won today. No excuses.”
Ismael Flores Scores Upset With Punches In Bunches
In the opener of the PPV card, tough Ismael Flores of Argentina (18-1-1, 12 KOs) scored the only upset win of the evening over Isaac Lucero of La Paz, Mexico (18-1, 14 KOs). It was Lucero’s first loss. Scores were 98-93, and 98-92 twice.
It seemed Lucero might catch Flores early, but true to his Argentinean DNA, Flores brushed it off, refused to yield, and quickly took control of the fight with a nonstop offensive effort.
In the tenth and final round, Flores finally let it sink in that he was on his way to the victory, waving his hands to the crowd in celebration. In the final minutes, he made one final run at stopping Flores. With referee Harvey Dock hovering, Flores avoided that fate by just a few seconds before the final bell.
“This is beautiful. I have to thank God for all of this, because I wouldn’t have fought with so much faith without him,” said Flores.
“I was given two weeks’ notice for this fight, but it didn’t matter. This was about many years of training hard, of prayer and sleepless nights. This is the fruit of that labor.”
“We knew Lucero just liked to come forward, very one-dimensional. So, I focused on being patient and on my sideways movement.” Flores says the performance proved he’s here to stay, but for now he plans to go home to Argentina and right back to the gym.
Lucero offers no excuses, saying he prepared well and just fell short. “My rival was the better man tonight. He came to steal the night and came with everything. The better man won.” Like Flores, Lucero plans to get back in the gym and see what happens next.
Flores landed 348 punches, the most in any fight so far in 2026. He landed 259 of 551 power punches (46%) and outlanded Lucero in every round. With the win, Flores earned the NABO Super Welterweight title.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.