On Saturday, June 10, we probably saw Mariana “La Barbie” Juarez’s (55-13-4, 19 KOs) last fight, who was at one point a champion in three different divisions: flyweight, super-flyweight, and bantamweight, with over seventy fights under her belt.
Her opponent, Mayeli Flores (10-1-1, 3 KOs), came out swinging, she threw punches at every angle, going from the head to the body. She left the former champion with a bloody nose after the punishment she received throughout the fight. Before getting into the ring with Flores, Juarez had professionally fought 537 rounds, while Flores only had 56 under her belt. Experience was on Juarez’s side, but at 43, her body was not having it. She was always one step behind her opponent. After going the distance, Flores ended up victorious over “La Barbie” Juarez by unanimous decision.
The co-main event of the evening between Shane Mosley Jr. and D’Mitrius Ballard (21-2-1, 13 KOs) was supposed to be a ten round bout for the NABO middleweight title. However, Mosley Jr. stopped Ballard in the fifth round after a flurry of body punches. This is Ballard’s second back-to-back loss, the first coming by the hands of Jaime Munguia, who won the bout by technical knockout. This is Mosley Jr’s twentieth victory in his career, bringing his record to 20 wins, and 4 losses with 11 knockouts.
In the main event, Mexican fighter, Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) faced his toughest battle yet, when he faced Ukrainian boxer, Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10 KOs). It was a twelve round bout that went back and forth throughout.
In front of a wild crowd of over 7,600 fans, the fighters put on an explosive show that had everyone jumping up with excitement right from the start. The fighters unleashed brutal hits to the head and body, each vying for control in the early rounds. Amidst the chaos, Derevyanchecko stumbled to the canvas in the second round, but it was ruled a slip. Munguia seized the opportunity, shifting gears and trapping Derevyanchenko with a barrage of crushing punches that visibly rattled the fighter.
Derevyanchenko was at his best in the fifth round, where he hurt the Mexican fighter with constant right hooks to the head that rocked Munguia against the ropes. At some points in the fifth round there seemed to be no answer from Munguia, who kept looking to his corner for guidance.
Derevyanchenko’s excellent defenses throughout the fight had Munguia missing many of his power punches, tiring the Mexican. However, in the last round, Munguia landed a punishing left hook to Derevyanchenko's body, causing him to collapse onto the canvas. Munguia relentlessly chased after Derevyanchenko, attempting to end the fight. However, Derevyanchenko skillfully maintained his distance and, just in the nick of time, the ringing bell came to his rescue, allowing him to escape Munguia's assault. In the end, the judges declared Munguia the winner, with scores of 115-112, 114-113, and 114-113, making him the new WBC Silver Super Middleweight Champion.
Munguia, ecstatic with the result, said, “I am very happy with the fight. It was a great victory, we made some mistakes but we’re still here undefeated.
“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.”
