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Jaime Munguia, who is quickly establishing himself as one of the best young boxers in the sport, makes the first defense of his WBO world junior middleweight title when he takes on former champion Liam Smith Saturday night in Las Vegas.
In the United States, the fight will be televised nationally on HBO, with the broadcast starting at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Munguia vs Smith is scheduled as the second and last fight on the broadcast.
Even if you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of the fight (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for a free trial of one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services.
If you have Amazon Prime or want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch all HBO content through the HBO Amazon Channel, which also comes with a free 7-day trial.
Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the HBO channel, you can then watch the fight live on your computer via the Amazon website, or you can watch on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
Whether you already have Hulu or you want to sign up for a new subscription, HBO is available as an add-on to Hulu or Hulu with Live TV.
Once signed up, you can watch the fight live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Preview
Munguia (29-0, 25 KOs) has already fought three times in 2018 but has only been inside the ring for a total of 10 rounds. He knocked out Jose Carlos Paz in the third round in February, did the same thing against Johnny Navarrete a month later, then, in a world title shot against Sadam Ali in May, he tallied a trio of knockouts before finishing the job early in the fourth round.
It has been a meteoric rise for the 21-year-old, who is now ranked as BoxRec’s No. 4 junior middleweight in the world behind only Jarrett Hurd, Erislandy Lara and Jermell Charlo.
Before he can potentially get his shot at one of them, though, Munguia will need to go through Smith (26-1-1, 14 KOs), the mandatory challenger.
“Beefy” is the former owner of the title that will be on the line Saturday night. He won it in 2015 and made a pair of defenses before losing it to Canelo Alvarez via ninth-round knockout in September 2016. But he has won three in a row since that defeat, including a pair of victories over compatriot Liam Williams, and after having to bow out of a scheduled title fight against Ali (which Munguia then stepped in and won) due to a skin infection, he’s ready to re-enter the title picture.
“To go to Vegas and fight for a world title is every fighter’s dream,” Smith said. “But it’s only an extra incentive to my main motivation — getting that WBO world junior middleweight title back around my waist. Munguia is obviously a dangerous puncher, and I’ll have to be wary of him early on, but he’s never fought someone as good as me and a fully-fledged 154-pound fighter.”
Before Munguia vs Smith, the HBO card will open with another world title fight, as Alberto Machado (19-0, 16 KOs) defends his WBA junior lightweight belt against Rafael Mensah (31-0, 23 KOs)