Relentless Munroe seals WBC title shot
Rendall ‘2 Tone’ Munroe was simply ‘2 much’ for Victor Terrazas as he ground down the Mexican in their final eliminator for the WBC super-bantamweight title at the Coventry Skydome last night. Munroe’s systematic onslaught finally took its toll on Terrazas who crumbled to the canvas following a left hook to the body a minute into round nine. The weary visitor rose at eight but his body language suggested he had nothing left which persuaded referee John Keane to wave things off. There were no complaints from Terrazas.
Munroe (8st 9lbs 2oz) made a typically subdued start and conceded three of the opening four rounds on my card. Terrazaz (8st 9lbs 8oz), one inch shorter at 5’7, settled quicker and looked relaxed behind the jab as he edged the opening session by sneaking a right hand through Munroe’s guard.
Rendall was content to have a look and offered little by way of offence behind his high held defence but was occasionally being picked off by Terrazas’s snappy jab in round two. Munroe tried to pick things up in the third but Terrazas showed good agility to step to the side and evade Rendall’s rather telegraphed attacks as he darted in-and-out of range.
This wasn’t the start Munroe’s army of fans, kitted out in fluorescent yellow binmen jackets, were hoping for. Terrazas, who endured an arduous three-day trip to arrive in Britain due to the volcanic ash cloud, also swept the fourth for me and caught Munroe coming in with a right hand to the side of the head. The Mexican was knocked out of his smooth stride though towards the end of the session when Munroe nailed him with a rabbit punch to the back of the head which left Terrazas remonstrating to referee Keane.
This incident at the end of the fourth seemed to inspire Munroe to up the tempo and as soon as the Leicester man began to impose himself the fight dramatically shifted in his favour. A purposeful Munroe pushed out a stiffer southpaw jab and followed up with clubbing hooks to head and body in round five. Terrazas responded with a well-picked right of his own but spent the majority of the three minutes under prolonged pressure with his back to the ropes as the action intensified.
While not a particularly devastating puncher, at 5’9 Munroe is a giant super-bantam with an incredible fighting engine who is capable of sustaining a feverish pace that his opponents simply find too hot to handle. The reigning European champion continued to slowly punch the fight out of Terrazas in a pulsating sixth, trapping the Mexican on the ropes and subjecting him to a repeated pasting upstairs and down.
Round seven was quieter but there were no signs that Terrazas was going to find an answer to Munroe’s pressure. Rendall continued to be in the ascendancy and landed uppercuts and hooks inside as Terrazas remained on the back foot.
The eighth was a pivotal round for Munroe who jolted Terrazas with an assortment of hooks and uppercuts in close with nothing come back his way. The Mexican was now a static target, his earlier snap had deserted him, and such was Munroe’s dominance I made this a 10-8 round in his favour.
Terrazas, now 25-2-1, seemed on the verge of capsizing in the eighth so it was little surprise when the finish came a minute into round nine. Victor simply didn’t have the strength or the power to keep the relentless Munroe off him who produced another highly effective performance.
By recording the 21st and most crucial win of his career, the Leicester binman can now look forward to challenging WBC champion Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan.
