Jaime Munguia dominates Brandon Cook, stops him in three frames

Rising Mexican junior middleweight Jaime Munguia 31-0 (26) successfully defended his WBO 154-pound world title with a dominant third-round technical knockout victory over Brandon Cook 20-2 (12) of Ontario, Canada in the main support bout on the Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin versus Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez undercard from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.

The heavy-handed 21-year-old from Tijuana, making the second defence of the WBO title he claimed from Sadam Ali with an upset TKO4 win in May, stopped Cook at 1:03 of the third frame of the scheduled 12-round bout.

“This was part of my development,” said Munguia, who is fast developing into a fan favourite with his aggressive style and knockout power.

“I was not as focused in my last fight. But this time I came more relaxed. I was looking for the knockout too much [in my last fight]. But now you’ve seen the results of my work.

“With each fight you will see me getting better. I just want to show that I can get better and that I want to face the best, so I can show that I am the best.”

In his last outing Munguia scored a clear-cut 12-round unanimous decision victory over Britain’s Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith 26-2-1 (14) at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in July.

While Munguia is pleased with his performance and the development he continues to show, title challenger Cook believes fouls from the champion were missed by referee Tony Weeks that altered the course of the fight.

“He kept hitting me in the hip and gave me a lot of low blows,” said Cook, 32. “This surprised me because the referee is experienced and didn’t give Munguia a warning.

“He’s tough, and it is what it is, and I hope to come back soon. I appreciate the support my Canadian fans have given me.”