Jaime Munguia opens second chapter to a promising career with KO of Bazinyan
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Knockout is the first word in the second chapter to Jamie Munguia’s career.
It sums up what he hopes to do.
It defines the promotional plans Top Rank has for him.
The KO was authored and patiently executed by Munguia in his first fight, post-Canelo, against an unknown, yet skilled Eric Bazinyan Friday in front of a roaring crowd of about 6,500 at Desert Diamond Arena.
In a super-middleweight fight full of twists and turns, ebbs and flows, a bigger and quicker Munguia finally delivered the final word with a succession of punches that left an exhausted Bazinyan on all fours, looking exhausted and beaten late in the 10th. He was finished, a loser by KO at 2:36 of the round.
“It was a great experience,’’ Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) said in a tone that suggested he anticipates even greater ones in a career that is just entering its prime.
It was also a victory that put him one fight beyond his last one, a scorecard loss to fellow Mexican Canelo Alvarez. There were questions about how the 27-year-old Munguia would respond to the loss to boxing’s so-called Face of the Game.
Would he be tentative?
Would he be over-anxious?
No.
And no.
Munguia’s evident poise was very much intact against Bazinyan (32-1-1, 23 KOs), an Armenian living in Canada. Bazinyan tested Munguia repeatedly in the middle round.
“I felt like I was winning,’’ Bazinyan said. “I felt he was very frustrated with my jab, right hand, and counters. He was getting tired. All of a sudden, I got caught. I don’t know what happened there.”
Munguia rocked him in the sixth, seventh and eighth. Each time, it looked as if Munguia was about to take control. But the well-conditioned Bazinyan came charging back, repeatedly rocking him with a solid right hands that he threw behind a consistently accurate jab.
A tentative Munguia would not have known how to respond. An overanxious Munguia would have rushed in and perhaps walked right into knockout blow. But Munguia carefully measured his punches and perhaps his energy, all in an effort to score a KO he had to envision in a comeback from his lone loss.
What’s next? Predictably, Munguia, a quiet fighter from Tijuana, wouldn’t be specific. He was asked about about the Top Rank-promoted Christian M’billi. He was asked by Caleb Plant, who is coming off a bruising victory over Trevor McCumby.
Then, he was asked by Edgar Berlanga, who lost a one-sided decision to Canelo at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena last Saturday.
“If I had to pick, I’d pick Berlanga,’’ he said.
Sounds like that one could produce the second word in that second chapter.
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Torrez stays unbeaten, Dawejko’s mouthpiece gets him DQed
Richard Torrez Jr. threw most of the punches in a fight dominated by his movement and Joey Dawejko’s mouthpiece.
In the end, it was the mouthpiece that proved to be decisive.
In a heavyweight fight with no knockdowns, Dawejko’s mouthpiece hit the canvas five times. The fifth time resulted in his disqualification in the fifth round of the final fight before the main event, a super-middleweight clash between Jaime Munguia and Eric Bazinyan Friday night in front of an estimated crowd of 7,000 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale Arena.
The DQ will go down as a victory for Torrez, pushing the prospect’s unbeaten record to 11-0 with 10 knockouts.
“Joey was a vet, just like I said,” Torrez said. “He didn’t give up. That mouthpiece came out a little too much. That’s a veteran move, but at the end of the day, congratulations to him. He put up a good fight.
“I think we were able to show more boxing ability that I was telling you about.”
Torrez was clearly on his way to victory with quick hands and agile feet. On The Boxing Hour’s card, he won the first three rounds easily. He was winning the fourth, too, when Dawejko’s mouthpiece began to dominate the round. Referee Wes Melton picked it up once, twice and then a third time. That’s when he issued his first one-point penalty. A fourth time resulted in a second one-point penalty for Dawejko (28-12-4 16 KOs), a Philadelphia roofer when not in the ring.
In the fifth, Melton had seen enough of Dawejko’s mouthpiece and the fight. He waved off the fight at 2:02 of the round.
El General marches on to another battle won
In the opening bout of the ESPN+ telecast “El General” Emiliano Vargas 11-0(9Kos) of Las Vegas, NV faces “Lethal” Larry Fryers 13-6-1(5Kos) of Clones, Ireland. Coming in the fight Larry made a bold prediction stating he was going to knock out Vargas in the 5th round. Missing majority of the year Larry is making his 2024 debut looking to mirror 2023 were he went undefeated in his 2 matches. Fans made sure to be in their seats prior to the start of this one. As most AZ fight fans are very familiar with Vargas, this will make it his fourth time fighting in front of them at the Desert Diamond Arena. It also does not hurt that he comes to fight which make him a fan friendly fighter. In a town known for fighter such as the legend Micheal Carbajal, Jose Benavidez jr, and David Benavidez AZ loves to see in all out war. The El “General” has the perfect tactics to keep them happy and on the edge of their seats.
In the opening round emiliano came out with a combo of a left and right to the head of Fryers which caught him by surprise and stunned. Vargas did not let up from the punishment landing at will knocking back Fryers to ropes with a series of jabs. More importantly Vargas was showing off his defense with great footwork and head movement, making his opponent miss many of his punches.
Focusing on the body in round 2 Vargas landed some vicious body shots to the right of fryers ribs. As the round came to an end at the sound of the 10 second mark, Vargas lands a straight left hand wobbling fryers to the ropes with a few significant punches following. Best exchange of the fight to this point
Larry has no answer for Emiliano’s left hook to the head nor to the body. Just as you think Fryers is done he comes back with a punch of his own but no damage being done. As a repeat of the previous round Vargas came with a late rally hurting Larry to the point if there was more time the referee might had to save him.
In the mid point of the fifth round Vargas landed 2 perfect body shots to set up the furious knock out punch a over hand left hook ending the night for Lethal Larry Fryers. The stoppage come at 1:38 of the fifth round.
Emiliano stated that this is his best performance to date and will enjoy crumbl cookies for his hard work. Vargas is showing that he can knockout out his opponents but now adding that he can make them miss as well. The prediction of a 5th round KO was right just the fighter who said it was not. Emiliano “El General” Vargas improves to 12-0(10KOs).
Charly Suarez scores third-round stoppage
Speed is power and Filipino junior-lightweight Charly Suarez proved it repeatedly in overwhelming Jorge Castaneda in the final bout before the ESPN telecast Friday of the card featuring Jaimie Munguia-Erik Bazinyan Friday at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ.
Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) dropped Castaneda (17-4, 13 KOs), of Laredo TX, twice in the third round, finishing him at 2:23 of the third for a fringe World Boxing Organization belt.
Not in Kansas anymore
Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia 14-0(11KOs) from Ulysses, Kansas took on Ricardo Fernandez 15-13(1KO) from Santa Cruz de la sierra, Bolivia in a scheduled 8 round bout. Garcia is coming off a very short break just fighting a little over a month ago when he KOd his opponent in 3 rounds. Coming into this fight should not be nothing new to “Kid Kansas” this past year fighting on average every 2 months, each time taking care of business
Coming to the ring paying homage to Mexico wear the colors of the flag Green, white, and red during Hispanic heritage month. As the action started Garcia quickly Established the jab, connecting flush on his opponent’s face.
Picking up the activity in the 2nd utilizing more of his arsenal going to the body more often. Towards the end of the round Garcia briefing stunned Fernandez with a left hook to his right temple.
Settling down for the start of the 3rd Garcia again picked it up carrying all the action as his dance partner did not come out to tangle. Very solid round for Kid Kansas as he did a little of everything head shots, body shots and movement in the ring
Sensing he has nothing to lose Fernandez came out his Corner swinging, throwing as many punches as all of the previous rounds combine. That was short lived as Garcia took control of the fight once again simply out boxing Fernandez
Garcias body shots have been landing effectively throughout the fight so far. In a wild turn of event with 45 seconds left in the 5th round Garcia left his guard down and was caught with a powerful right over hand. Before even hitting the canvass Garcia was out, unfortunately his head bounced off the mat. Not being able to get up the referee stops the fight at 35 seconds left in the fifth round.
This is a huge upset for top prospect Alan Garcia, maybe all those miles he put on his body this year is what failed him tonight. There is still a very bright future for Kid Kansas. In his post fight interview Fernandez stated that he was not surprised of the knockout and he knew that he was not getting up. Fernandez improves to 16-13(2KOs) while Garcia suffered his first defeat now at 14-1(11KOs)—-By David Galaviz
DJ Zamora wins decision in tough junior-lightweight bout
DJ Zamora calls himself The War Machine.
He got the war.
Got the victory, too.
Zamora (14-0, 9 KOs), a junior-lightweight from Las Vegas, won a unanimous decision, yet was forced into an intense battle during the middle to late rounds of a scheduled eight-rounder by Argentine Gerenardo Antonio Perez (12-6-1, 3 KOs) Friday on a card featuring Munguia-Bazinyan at Desert Diamond Arena Friday.
Zamora’s superior reach and hand speed controlled the early rounds. In the fourth, however, Perez adjusted, slipped under Zamora’s long punches and landed repeated uppercuts in a bout cheered by a small, yet lively crowd.
Unbeaten Steven Navarro scores third-round TKO
Steven Navarro, an unbeaten Super Flyweight from Los Angeles, combined power and speed for a two-fisted demolition of Oscar Arroyo in the third fight — all one-sided — Friday on the card featuring Jaime Munguia-Eric Bazinyan at Glendale’s Desert Diamond Arena.
Navarro (4-0, 3 KOs) overwhelmed Arroyo (3-3, 2 KOs), of Virginia, knocking him down twic , once in the first round and again in the second. Late in third, Navarro unleashed a succession of punches from countless angles, prompting the referee to step in and end it at 2:35 of the round.
Jorge Perez scores first-round KO
ia Essaoudi walked into the ring, answered an opening bell and had to be helped through ropes and into his dressing forty-six seconds later.
It was quick work, all delivered by Mexican middleweight Jorge Perez (31-4, 26 KOs) in the second fight on a card featuring Munguia-Bazinyan at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.
Perez, of Los Mochis, landed a lethal hook to Essaoudi’s left side. Essaoudi (22-3, 15 KOs), of Germany, reacted as if he had suffered a fractured rib. In evident pain, he dropped his hands. Then, Perez landed a head-rockincombo. At :46 of the first round, it was over — Perez, winner by knockout.
First Bell: Unbeaten Sebastian Hernandez forces aging foe to quit
It was a matinee surrender.
The ESPN show featuring Jaime Munguia-Erik Bazinyan opened Friday at Desert Diamond Arena with junior-featherweight Sebastian Hernandez (17-0, 16 KOs), of Tijuana, landing punches at will against a retreating Yenfrez Parejo (24-7-1, 12 KOs) a middle-aged Venezuelan with a receding hair line.
Parejo’s age was listed at 37-years-old. By the third, he looked 50. After the fourth, he was finished, a senior citizen who couldn’t continue.