Jaime Munguia is fresh off the biggest fight of his career, a hard-fought loss to Canelo Alvarez on May 4.
In that fight, Munguia showed plenty of grit, energy, and heart, though it wasn’t enough to deter the first-ballot hall of famer in Alvarez. Munguia is a fan favorite and returns to the ring this Friday on ESPN.
Munguia (43-1, 34 KO’s) takes on undefeated Canadian contender Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KO’s) in the main event of this Top Rank on ESPN live televised card on Friday, Sept. 20.
Munguia is not looking to dwell on his loss to Alvarez, and he makes a quick return. Bazinyan is ranked #4 by the WBA and hopes to make his name at the expense of the Mexican former champion.
The fight could be a make or break for the young Munguia, though he is only 27. He is a former champion at 154 pounds, and received a lot of scrutiny for some of the opponents that he took on and, when he moved up to 160 pounds, many felt he avoided some challenges.
Once he moved up to the 168 pound division Munguia delivered a spectacular fight of the year performance versus veteran Sergiy Derevyanchenko. In that fight, Munguia appeared to be down on the cards, but he dug deep to score a 12th-round knockdown and ended up picking up the decision victory.
He followed that up with a 9th round dominant victory over former title challenger John Ryder. That led to his fight with Alvarez, where again he gave a good account of himself, despite the fact that it was not enough to pull off the victory.
With his return, Munguia wants to erase the bad taste from his mouth and look to position himself for another title shot.
Munguia also brings back to his corner former trainer and legendary Mexican fighter Erik Morales.
Munguia has an opponent in Bazinyan, who may not be a household name, but holds a meaningful ranking and does not want to waste his biggest opportunity. When a fighter hasn’t lost, he also doesn’t know how to lose, so I expect Bazinyan to put his best effort forth in the ring, which should make for an entertaining bout.
Will Munguia be able to quickly return to his winning ways or will Bazinyan pull off a major upset?
I have Munguia by way of stoppage in the 9th round.
