ONTARIO, Calif. – In the midst of a seesaw slugfest, Jaime Munguia saved his best theatrics for last Saturday night against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in a fight-of-the-year contender.

Down by a point on two scorecards heading into the twelfth round, Munguia dropped Derevyanchenko with a brutal and debilitating body shot to flip the cards in his favor to score a unanimous decision.

Munguia was awarded scores of 115-112 (Lou Moret), 114-113 (Fernando Villarreal), and 114-113 (Rudy Barragan). All three judges scored every round the same for the twelve-round fight, except for the third.

Without the knockdown, at best, the vulnerable Munguia (42-0, 33KOs) could have walked away with a majority draw if he only won the twelfth on both Villarreal and Barragan’s cards and had he not dropped Derevyanchenko.

Before the theatrical twelfth, both boxers displayed incredible bravery and exchanged plenty of powerful shots. They both also showcased chins of granite, but it was the body that failed Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10KOs), who fell yet again in a close and competitive clash. 

Until the fight slipped through his hands, "The Technician" was masterfully piecing up and tattering Munguia for significant stretches of the main event fight that took place at the Toyota Arena in front of 7,647 fans. Both fighters were making their super middleweight debut in a bout that headlined a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN.

The former 154-pound champion Munguia, from Tijuana, Mexico, admitted before the Derevyanchenko bout that the Ukrainian would be the toughest test of his ten-year career, and it ended up being true.

Ninety seconds into the fight, both boxers landed a hellacious flurry with Munguia instigating, and Derevyanchenko countering. Munguia's defensive liabilities, however, showed early, allowing for a Derevyanchenko right hook and a right cross to snap his head back.  

Derevyanchenko’s counter shots appeared more flashy because Munguia's head kept snapping back, but Munguia would score on his wild combinations as well. 

Seemingly the same script unfolded in the second, with Munguia unleashing wild flurries with the deft Derevyanchenko sneaking in sharp and masterful counters. 

Derevyanchenko kicked the fight into yet another new gear in the third by charging forward and snapping Munguia's head back multiple times again. He even landed a flush punch on Munguia's throat.

Munguia seemed to gain some momentum back in the fourth, with his jab and check left hook working wonders from the outside. 

The fifth round could arguably land on the shortlist for the round of the year. Both fighters hurt each other during feverish flurries, but it was again Derevyanchenko who delivered the equilibrium-altering shots. Both fighters were gassed at the end of the frame, and it was rather incredible that Munguia mustered to survive the bell without getting knocked down.

The crowd, almost all of whom were cheering for Munguia, roared and cheered for the valiant fighters. 

Munguia fought at range in the sixth and put a stop to Derevyanchenko's mounting momentum, closing the round with a solid left hook. 

In the final thirty seconds of the seventh, both fighters exchanged head-bobbling check left hooks, and Derevyanchenko appeared to land his a bit harder. 

Munguia got the worst from a clash of heads in the eighth round. Derevyanchenko used that to his advantage to work the beltline and follow Munguia and deliver a few more headshots. 

By round nine, Munguia appeared fatigued and was no longer unleashing the wild combinations he had in the first half of the fight. Derevyanchenko landed three hard lefts to close the round. 

Munguia looked spent for most of the tenth but delivered in the final thirty seconds with hard right hands.

With the fight still hanging in the balance, Munguia landed a right hand that stopped Derevyanchenko in his tracks, and he followed up with a hard body shot to the middle of the stomach in the eleventh.

Munguia connected with a hard left in the opening ten seconds of the twelfth, but it was the knockdown he scored soon after that saved him from a possible disastrous loss.

Derevyanchenko appeared gassed after he got up, but he was able to gather himself, hold, and grab Munguia’s legs to topple over him as they both fell. He ran and avoided engaging for the rest of the round as he tried to recover from the knockdown. 

During the pre-fight buildup this week, promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy president Eric Gomez both promised that the bout would be a fight-of-the-year contender, and the proclamation, which is often said but even more frequently fails to deliver, proved to be true. 

By beating Derevyanchenko, the 26-year-old Munguia scored his best win since besting Liam Smith in 2018. 

After subpar victories against Gonzalo Coria, Jimmy Kelly, and D'Mitrius Ballard in 2022, the still-developing Munguia needed to score a statement win in order for his callouts against the likes of Jermall Charlo, Gennadiy Golovkin, and others to carry some serious weight. 

As for Derevyanchenko, the well-seasoned, three-time title challenger dropped to  2-5 in his last seven fights dating back to 2018.

The 37-year-old Derevyanchenko’s other losses have come to a group of opponents featuring Daniel Jacobs, Golovkin, Charlo, and Carlos Adames. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.