Jaime Munguia enjoyed a career renaissance Saturday night in Las Vegas, looking world class with his unrelenting dominance of Jose Resendiz to capture the WBA super middleweight title on the David Benavidez vs. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez undercard inside the T-Mobile Arena.
Since his lopsided 2024 defeat to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Munguia’s career had become a tabloid editor’s dream but a promoter’s nightmare. A rebound knockout win over Erik Bazinyan preceded a baffling sixth-round collapse against the unheralded Bruno Surace. Even when he rectified that loss in a May 2025 rematch, a positive test for exogenous testosterone cast a dark shadow over the former WBO super welterweight champion’s future.
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But on Saturday, it looked like Munguia (46-2, 35 KOs) was motivated not just to add another championship to his honors roll, but recapture the relevancy he once had.
Against Resendiz (16-3, 11 KOs), the favorite heading into the fight, he did just that.
Resendiz, 27, had punched his way to the top by dismantling Caleb Plant in an upset last year, and walked to the ring on Cinco de Mayo weekend with the WBA’s blessing as their full super middleweight champion. He was the man with the momentum — and the belt — while Munguia had the problems.
But once the bell rang for this co-feature to the Benavidez-Ramirez cruiserweight showdown, the narratives quickly shifted.
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Under the guidance of trainer Eddy Reynoso, Munguia fought with a newfound, spiteful discipline, as “Canelo” himself said mid-fight on the Prime Video pay-per-view broadcast.
“He did a great job in the gym and he learned a lot to [apply] that in the fight,” Alvarez said of his stablemate.
“I always try to give advice but Eddy Reynoso is the one who taught him, and he’s done a good job.”
A good job is an understatement.
Munguia, 29, looked physically imposing at the super middleweight limit, with hulking biceps and shoulders — like a light heavyweight despite weighing 167.4 pounds. He was only 0.4 pounds more than Resendiz on the scales, but visibly more on the night.
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Resendiz brought his trademark pressure but it was plodding and predictable, and so Munguia picked him apart with volume, surgical body work and thudding uppercuts. Even by the third round, the crowd favorite’s efficiency was clear as he out-landed his opponent by 21 shots to five.
In the fourth, Resendiz found some success as he took constant forward steps to get on the inside, backing Munguia against the ropes — an area Reynoso told his fighter to stay away from.
But Munguia’s response was one of fortitude as he refused to concede anything to Resendiz, unleashing a brutal left uppercut to the face, right hook to the body combination to punish the defending champion for having the nerve to trade.
Taking heed of Reynoso’s advice to hit him with a 1-2-3 before getting out, Munguia controlled the middle of the ring and, by the 10th round, Resendiz, the champion, was depleted of all confidence and no longer able, or willing, to swang and bang.
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To reiterate his comfort level, Munguia danced on the periphery before punishing Resendiz for every lead step forward.
This was a world-class dismantling. It made Munguia a two-weight world champion, but perhaps more importantly, it reminded the boxing world why they were excited about him in the first place.
Munguia is back, and after a unanimous decision win with scores of 117-111, 119-109 and 120-109, he has a new championship belt to prove it.
For full coverage of Benavidez vs. Zurdo, including live results, play-by-play and highlights of the entire David Benavidez vs. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez main card, check out Uncrowned’s fight night hub.
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