It was far tougher than most expected, but Jaime Munguia made his first defense of the WBA super middleweight title against Nikita Zon on Saturday night.
Munguia defeated Zon by unanimous decision to retain his belt at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The back-and-forth contest served as the co-main event for The Ring's "Mexico Versus The World," which was headlined by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's unanimous-decision victory over Christian Mbilli to become the WBC super middleweight champion.
Munguia, The Ring's No. 5-ranked super middleweight contender, hurt Zon on multiple occasions and had to survive tough moments of his own. In the sixth round, Munguia (47-2, 35 KOs) was badly hurt by an uppercut and on the cusp of being stopped in what would've been one of the biggest upsets this year. He managed to survive and went on the offensive by the end of the sixth in what was a contender for the 2026 "Round of the Year."
Munguia controlled the second half of the fight as Zon gassed out and could never catch a second wind after the sixth round.
Bektemir Melikuziev (17-1, 11 KOs), The Ring's No. 10-ranked super middleweight, is Munguia's mandatory challenger. The Ring's Mike Coppinger reported Saturday that a deal is in place for them to fight in early 2027.
If that falls apart, two other opponents that could make sense are Diego Pacheco (26-0, 19 KOs) and former two-division champion Jermall Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs), who has named Munguia as one of the fights he wants in the final chapter of his career. Who should Munguia face next?
