Sadam Ali vs. Jaime Munguía

Sadam Ali vs. Jaime Munguía was a professional boxing match contested on May 12, 2018, for the WBO light middleweight title.^[1]

Sadam Ali had upset four-division champion Miguel Cotto to capture the WBO light middleweight title in what was Cotto's final fight on December 2, 2017.^[2] Three months later, it was announced that Ali would make his first defense against the WBO's mandatory challenger and former light middleweight title holder Liam Smith on May 12, 2018.^[3] However, Smith suffered an allergic reaction that resulted in him developing an undisclosed skin condition which halted his training for eight days and eventually led to him withdrawing from the bout just over two weeks before it was to take place.^[4] Just two days later, undefeated prospect Jaime Munguía was named Smith's replacement, having taken the Ali fight on short notice after negotiations to face middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, also on short notice due to Golovkin's opponent Canelo Álvarez pulling out of their scheduled May 5th fight, fell through.^[5]

Ali was ranked as the 9th best Light middleweight by TBRB.

Munguía would dominate Ali from the opening round, scoring the first of four knockdowns one minute into the first round with a combination to the body and head. Ali, though clearly hurt from the exchange, was able to answer the referee's 10-count and went on the defensive as Munguía continued his pursuit, eventually sending Ali down again just over a minute later with consecutive right hands. Ali again answered the referee's count and continued to try to avoid and clinch Munguía as he barely survived the round. Ali was able to rebound as the two fighters fought a close second round before Munguía was able to stun Ali with a big right hand in the final five seconds and send him down for a third time with a combination as the round ended. Though Ali would once again answer the referee's count, upon his return to his corner, the fight was nearly stopped before the ringside doctor ultimately allowed Ali to go back out for the third round. Ali had a solid third round, but Munguía again stunned Ali at the end of the round and seemingly scored his fourth knockdown of the fight, though the referee opted to rule it a slip. Though Ali seemed dazed as he returned to his corner after round three, the ringside doctor again cleared him to go out for the fourth. Munguía would press the action in the fourth before sending him down for the fourth time with a short left hook, after which the fight was stopped immediately. Munguía was named the winner by technical knockout at 1:02 of the fourth round.^[6]

Confirmed bouts:^[7][8]

^Note 1 For WBO light middleweight title
^Note 2 For WBC super bantamweight title