Jaime Munguia Wins War!

ONTARIO, CA (June 10, 2023): A ‘fight of the year’ candidate was witnessed tonight as the Pride of Tijuana, and former world champion, Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) secured a victory against the former world title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10 KOs) at Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA. In front of 7,647 rowdy fans, the equally matched fighters delivered an action-packed fight that brought the fans to their feet from the first round. Both fighters delivered powerful shots to the head and body as they tried to establish dominance in the early rounds leading to Derevyanchecko hitting the canvas in the second round during the chaos, but it was ruled a slip. Munguia took advantage of the change of pace and cornered Derevyanchenko with a flurry of power shots that visibly left the fighter shaken. In the 12th round, Munguia delivered a hard left hook to the body that sent Derevyanchenko to the mat. Munguia actively pursued and tried to finish Derevyanchenko off. Still, Derevyanchenko kept his distance and was ultimately saved by the bell from Munguia’s determined attack. Ultimately, the judges decided the fight in favor of Jaime Munguia with scores of 115-112, 114-113, and 114-113 crowning him the new WBC Silver Super Middleweight Champion.

“I am very happy with the fight. It was a great victory, we made some mistakes but were still here undefeated,” said Jaime Munguia. “I am very happy with the decision and in reality it took me a lot of effort to achieve it. It was difficult but we were able to catch and hurt him in the 10th round and then we dropped him in the 12th round. I think ultimately, we achieved the victory thanks to my training. We trained really hard in the gym, obviously it's not the same in the gym as in the ring, but we are always working hard, always trying to improve.”

In the night’s co-main presentation, Shane Mosley, Jr. (20-4, 10 KOs) secured the NABO Middleweight Belt with a seventh-round knockout victory over Temple Hills, Massachusetts, D’Mitrius “Big Meech” Ballard (21-2-1, 13 KOs). Originally scheduled for 10-rounds, Mosley, Jr. controlled the pace of the fight, managing Ballard’s awkward style until the referee called the fight at 1:42 of the seventh round.

“The plan was to take control of the fight from the first round, I was a control freak in there,” said Shane Mosley Jr. “Control the pace even when he was walking me back it was because I wanted him to walk me back. I put him where I wanted him to be. And you saw when I turned it up, it was too much for him. So I did what I needed to do, we got the knockout. This guy is 21-1 the only person to beat him was the main event, Jaime Munguía. This means I'm on the road to getting that strap, that belt, it’s strap season. I'm going to be the WBA world champion.”

Pulling off the upset of the night, Mexico City’s Mayeli Flores (10-1-1, 3 KOs) defeated her compatriot boxing veteran and former two-division world champion Mariana “Barby” Juarez (55-13-4, 19 KOs) in an eight-round super bantamweight fight that went the distance. Flores quickly won the crowd with her aggression and relentless pressure that was accompanied with an abundance of punches. The judges scored the fight 73-79, 73-79, and 72-80.

“I had two objectives in fighting Mariana, the first was to win, the second was to show the American public that female boxing can be as exciting or more than male boxing,” said Mayeli Flores. “I had a plan going into this fight, I was well prepared, and I wanted to make sure that I applied pressure and set the pace from the beginning. That is what I did from the beginning of the fight until the end, and I feel that is was what gave us the victory today.”

Opening the DAZN broadcast, Rialto’s Ricardo “El Niño” Sandoval (22-2, 16 KOs) participated in a 10-round flyweight fight that went the distance against Rocco “So Cal Kid” Santomauro (22-2, 6 KOs) of Los Angeles. Sandoval and Santomauro went back and forth throughout the bout, Sandoval making the winning adjustments to Santomauro’s pressure. The judges awarded the unanimous decision win to Sandoval with scores of 98-92, 96-94, and 96-94.

On the preliminary card, fan-favorite from San Diego, Jorge “El Niño Dorado” Chavez (7-0, 5 KOs) maintained his undefeated streak in a six-round featherweight match that went the distance against Christian “El Niño” Lorenzo (3-5, 1 KO) of Los Angeles. Chavez established his dominance early on, cornering Lorenzo with power punches and flurries throughout the bout. The fight went the distance with judges awarding Chavez the unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the bout 60-54.

Opening Munguia vs. Derevyanchenko fight night, Anthony Saldivar (4-0, 2 KOs) of Ontario, California dazzled his hometown crowd with a second-round KO of Jerome Clayton (2-2-1, 2 KOs) of Metairie, Louisiana. The fight was originally scheduled for four middleweight rounds. Saldivar was in the driver’s seat the entire fight, sending Clayton to the mat three times throughout the bout. The referee waved the fight off after the third knock down at 2:01.