Ghana’s Patrick Allotey has been outclassed in his WBO junior middleweight title fight, suffering a fourth-round technical knockout defeat to Jaime Munguia in California on Saturday.

Munguia (34-0, 27 KOs) successfully defended his WBO junior middleweight title for the fifth time and sent Allotey to the canvas on three occasions. In the fourth round, Allotey took a delayed knee at the 2:18 mark, and his corner put a stop to the fight.

It was quite a turnaround for Munguia after a subpar performance in April when he escaped with a decision victory against Dennis Hogan.

“The journey getting here was hard but I feel really good with these people who came to support me,” Munguia said. “This is Mexican Independence Day and I feel really good and I’m ready to go further for more.”

Allotey (40-4, 30 KOs) had some success early as he landed combinations — but those punches had no effect on Munguia. In the third round, Munguia punished Allotey with a body and head combination that was punctuated by a short uppercut, forcing Allotey to take a knee. Another combination sent Allotey to the canvas as the round ended, setting up the TKO in the fourth. 

When asked whether this was his final fight as a junior middleweight, Munguia said, “I need to talk with my promoter. First I need to talk to my team and then we’ll decide.”