Former world champion and undefeated Mexican superstar Jaime Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs) returned to Anaheim’s Honda Center as he took on former world title challenger Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly (26-3, 10 KOs) of Manchester, UK.
“My strategy was to move and try to frustrate him,” said Kelly. “He’s a strong, patient fighter. But, he just stayed calm and found the opportunity. It was my daughter’s birthday and I missed it which broke my heart. I thought I would win but now I have to go back and explain why I lost.”Â
The scheduled twelve round super middleweight fight started with Kelly’s quick punches and defense maneuvers giving Munguia a lot of trouble.
In the fifth round, everything changed around when Munguia caught Kelly with a big hook to score a knockdown. Munguia would then score two more knockdowns over a game Kelly to be declared the winner by knockout at the 2:57 marker.Â
He then called for a showdown with WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
“It was difficult in the beginning since he’s a slippery, tough fighter, and he could take a punch,” said Munguia. “He was trying to do his plan of attack, but I had to do my thing and work the body. My mentality was that I was losing the first three rounds. So I had to follow my plan of slowing him down by attacking the body. I figured out that I had to work through the middle and throw punches like the uppercut. I think it was the punch that I knocked him down with.”Â
Munguia continued, “I think this fight helped me out a lot. I’m ready to go back to 160 to fight for a world title or move to 168. I’m ready for any challenge. There are a lot of people who are supporting me. I want to say what Oscar [De La Hoya] said for Charlo to grow some balls and stop hiding behind Haymon. I think it would be great for boxing. We hope that by the end of the year we can get a big fight.”
