JAIME MUNGUIA DEFEATS TAKESHI INOUE TO REMAIN THE WBO JUNIOR WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION
Fight Night from Houston Now Available On Demand
HOUSTON, Jan. 26, 2018: In an electric night of boxing at the Toyota Center on Saturday night, WBO Junior World Middleweight Titlist Jaime Munguia went the distance and ultimately defended his belt against Takeshi Inoue by unanimous decision. In the co-main event, after twelve rounds of fireworks, Xu Can upset Jesus Rojas to become the new WBA Featherweight Champion. Vergil Ortiz Jr. also put on a dominating performance against Jesus Valdez, winning by TKO at the end of the fifth round.
Jaime Munguia
“It was a great fight. He was a great warrior. It was a great battle for me. I was surprised by his ability to take punches. He took a lot of punches to the head and to the body. He took punches that would have dropped anyone else. I feel I got a lot of experience from this fight. I will keep working on using my distance. There were times where he was able to cut the distance, and I want to work on that.”
Was he surprised Inoue was able to take all of his big shots? “I was surprised by him. He did great. But, I also received a lot of punches on the back of my head. But, I’ll take the title, I got the win, and that’s what matters.”
Was coming down to 154 hard for him and have any effect on his conditioning? “I don’t think so. There was no problem. After a few fights, I’m going to stay at 160.”
Demetrius Andrade tweeted that he wants to face you at 160, what’s your response? “Yes, of course. I accept the challenge.”
Takeshi Inoue
“With 31 wins and no losses, Munguia was not just a power puncher but a great boxer. We both had the skill to kill the other’s boxing style. He was the better fighter tonight. I hope to get better and come back to the United States to fight again.”
Xu Can
On his win: “This is my second time to come to the USA to fight. Before I came here, I knew it’s a very hard fight. So I got ready for this fight. I did a lot of work for this. So, thank you everyone. I respect my opponent, Rojas, my friend, he’s very tough, very strong punch. But I knew I can win this fight. I can, I can!”
Where did the power come from? “It’s from China. I am Chinese – for the country! I knew I can defeat this fighter, I knew I can defend his punch, even though his punch is very strong, but I had confidence in my defense. I just punched, defend, punched, defend, punched, defend.”
Who does he want next? “I’m not scared of anyone.”
Jesus Rojas
“I don’t feel the decision was correct. I don’t know what to say. I’m surprised. I spoke to Golden Boy Promotions, and I want the rematch. I think we worked well, used my jab and I want the fight. Of course I want the rematch.”
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
On his win and how he thinks the fight went: “I felt like I could have done better. It didn’t go how I wanted it go to. This is how the sport works. I’ll learn from this. I hope that all my fans out there enjoyed it. I really appreciate everyone. I love you guys and I couldn’t do it without you.”
On whether he was surprised about Valdez’s willpower: “I gotta give credit to him. He has a lot of heart. He has a lot of balls. As a fighter I really respect him. I can only respect him for doing with he did in there.”
What’s next? “Honestly, I’m waiting for a world title shot. It could be the next fight. I want to be the next world champion out of Dallas, Texas.”
Oscar de la Hoya
On the upcoming Canelo vs. Jacobs fight: “It’s a 50-50 fight. It’s a tough fight. He’s what they call ‘The Miracle Man,’ coming back from cancer, coming back from getting knocked down. He has a lot of heart and that’s very dangerous when you have a fighter like Jacobs. He has power, strength, speed, but most importantly, willpower.”
Will Canelo vs. GGG 3 happen? “There’s no doubt whatsoever. Canelo wants to fight the very best. And I can assure you in the third time around, Canelo will knock him out.”
12-round WBO Junior Middleweight Title Bout @ 154 lbs.
Jaime Munguia vs. Takeshi Inoue
Jaime Munguia (32-0, 26 KOs) def. Takeshi Inoue (13-1-1, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision
(120-108, 120-108, 119-109)
12-round WBA Featherweight Title Bout @ 126 lbs.
Xu Can (16-2, 2 KOs) def. Jesus Rojas (26-3-2, 19 KOs) by unanimous decision.
(118-110,117-111,116-112)
10-round Super Lightweight Bout @ 144 lbs.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (12-0, 12 KOs) def. Jesus Valdez (23-5-1, 12 KOs) by TKO at the end of Round 5
Boxing on DAZN returns Saturday, Feb. 9 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California when Junior Lightweight Titlist Alberto Machado defends his belt against Andrew Cancio.
