Video by Ryan Burton

HBO Sports returns to the vibrant junior middleweight division when one of 2018’s breakout stars defends his crown for the first time on HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: JAIME MUNGUIA VS. LIAM SMITH AND ALBERTO MACHADO VS. RAFAEL MENSAH, presented SATURDAY, JULY 21 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from the Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Two months ago, Jaime Munguia (29-0, 25 KOs) made an impressive HBO debut, scoring a resounding fourth-round KO of junior middleweight titleholder Sadam Ali. Now, the 25-year-old native of Tijuana, Baja Calif, Mexico defends his title against the UK’s formidable Liam Smith (26-1-1, 14 KOs), 29, in a 12-round clash that promises to produce fireworks.

The co-feature spotlights Alberto Machado (19-0, 16 KOs) defending his super featherweight title against No. 1 contender Rafael Mensah (31-0, 23 KOs) in a 12-round battle. Machado, 27, hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico; Mensah, also 27, is a native of Accra, Ghana, and has 12 more pro bouts than the champ.

This doubleheader marks the 39th consecutive year that HBO Boxing has televised a fight card from Las Vegas.