Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan answer questions before the upcoming fight
Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan (right) answer questions about the significance of their upcoming fight on Friday in Glendale at the Desert Diamond Arena.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Last Saturday’s pay-per-view fight between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga is a tough one to watch, but Top Rank Boxing on ESPN wants to capitalize on the excitement surrounding this Mexican Independence Day weekend blockbuster by offering live boxing from the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Friday.
There, fan favorite Jaime Munguia returns to the Phoenix area to headline against super middleweight contender Erik Bazinyan of Canada. Munguia, from Tijuana, Mexico, with a record of 43-1 – his only loss was to Alvarez in May of this year – will certainly be the fighter local fans want to see.
The fights have begun and Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez is in the building as commentator.
“I’m grateful to all the people in Phoenix, all the fans from Arizona and everywhere who came to support me,” Munguia told The Arizona Republic in Spanish on Wednesday. “Honestly, it was a great feeling. The fans in Arizona are incredible.”
Up to 10,000 fans are expected to attend Friday, with more tuning in to ESPN and ESPN+. This, and the announcement that Top Rank will return to the region in December for another major event, are further successes for the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, which was recently named Commission of the Year by the North American Boxing Federation. Executive Director Danny Vella was named Executive Director of the Year by the NABF.
Emiliano Fernando Vargas, who fights two fights ahead of Munguia, said he was filled with pride as a person of Mexican descent when he saw Alvarez fight last week. The 20-year-old from Las Vegas has a career record of 3-0 at the Desert Diamond Arena.
“I can’t wait to bring that energy into my fight,” he said.
Richard Torrez Jr., who moved into the co-feature slot after the original fight was canceled, said he hopes fans who saw Alvarez’s fight will also be there for his night on Friday.
“Having a guy here who recently fought Canelo will add to the presence of this fight,” he said. “At the end of the day, Arizona is showing what it can do. I’m just happy to be here and show what I can do too.”
Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan Main Card: Richard Torrez Jr. wins by disqualification
Richard Torrez Jr. wants to be the next American heavyweight champion, and although he still has a long way to go at 25 years old, the former Olympic silver medalist from Tulare, California, accomplished his task on Friday.
Torrez improved his record to 11-0 when he stopped Joey Dawejko in the fifth round. Dawejko looked exhausted at this point and took too many blows to the head. Dawejko was officially disqualified for losing his mouth guard too many times.
“Whether I’m a candidate or a challenger, I’m Richard Torrez, and at the end of the day, I’m always going to fight the same way,” Torrez said.
Dawejko looked ready to give up, but referee Wes Melton intervened several times as the mouthpiece was repeatedly knocked out of his mouth, causing the crowd to chant an obscenity at Melton.
Dawejko (28-12-4) landed some hooks that rocked Torrez, but he was bloodied around the nose and could only try to protect himself from Torres’ attack at the end.
More than half of the Desert Diamond Arena’s lower seating area, as well as suites and stalls, were filled as 20-year-old junior welterweight prospect Emiliano Fernando Vargas heard the crowd cheer for his fight against Larry Fryers, the opener of the three-fight Munguia-Bazinyan main event.
Some of those cheers were for Vargas’ father and trainer, Fernando Vargas. The elder Vargas went 26-5 in a career that spanned the late 1990s and early 2000s and fought some legends.
Emiliano has his father’s traits. He and Fryers engaged in a fight with flying fists and went head to head, with Vargas executing a good plan despite a hand injury.
Vargas took Fryers to his knees with combinations to the head late in the fourth round. Fryers was in trouble for most of the fight and it all caught up with him in the fifth round when a left hook from Vargas knocked him down.
That was all Vargas needed because the fight was stopped. Fryers fought hard and took a lot of hard punches but didn’t land many himself.
Vargas improved his record to 12-0 with his 10th knockout. He is 4-0 at the Desert Diamond Arena. The crowd, made up mostly of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, enjoyed every second and the younger Vargas cut an impressive figure.
“I’m my biggest critic,” Vargas said. “These Irish guys have Mexican strength! It was a great fight. As I always say, it’s never a boring fight. I just have to gain experience and pass these tests.”
Charly Suarez of the Philippines scored a third-round TKO against Jorge Castañeda of Texas in the final preliminary fight between Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan.
Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) was in control from the start, unbalancing his opponent twice in the third round, finishing the fight with a left-right combination that knocked Castañeda down, and Suarez went home with the WBO International Junior Lightweight title belt.
Bolivian Ricardo Fernandez, who came from Spain and had only one knockout to his name and a record of 15-13, surprised the then unbeaten junior boxer Alan Garcia with a right hook to the side of Garcia’s head in the fifth round. The blow knocked Garcia down, who went through the ropes to the edge of the ring and could not get up until the count of 10.
The fight was the first upset in the Top Rank boxing match between Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan on Friday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Fernandez hardly knew what to do with himself after landing the fight-ending punch and ran around the ring in agitation. He spoke to the media after the fight.
DJ Zamora from Las Vegas had to fight the Argentinian Gerardo Antonio Perez. The junior lightweight fight went the full eight rounds and the two fighters walked around the ring with their arms locked in respect for what had happened between them.
The fight wasn’t very action-packed for fans, but Zamora (14-0) was the clear winner, winning by unanimous decision. Perez celebrated going the full distance with the 21-year-old Zamora, who is working on his contender status.
Fans began streaming into the Desert Diamond Arena before 3 p.m. and the early-arriving crowd saw Jorge Garcia Perez of Los Mochis, Mexico deliver a hard left punch to his opponent Ilias Essaoudi in the ribs, ending the fight in the first round.
Perez, a junior middleweight, improved to 31-4 with 26 knockouts.
Following Perez’s win, Steven “Kid Dynamite” Navarro got the crowd going with his performance to mariachi music. Then the 20-year-old 115-pounder from Inglewood, California, knocked down Oscar Arroyo Jr. in the first round, knocked out Arroyo in the second round and showed off his quick hands en route to Navarro’s fourth win in four career fights.
Navarro’s speed and power were too much for Arroyo and the fight was stopped towards the end of the third round.
In the first of nine fights scheduled for Friday, Sebastian Hernandez of Tijuana defeated Yonfrez Parejo in the junior featherweight division by technical knockout in the fourth round. The 23-year-old Hernandez improved his record to 17-0.
The Jaime Munguia-Erik Bazinyan/Top Rank fight card can be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required), with the final three fights broadcast on ESPN.
Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan: Fight date, start time, ring walks
The main card, which concludes with Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan, is set for Friday, September 20th at 7:30 p.m. Phoenix time. Depending on how long the previous two fights go, the main event’s ring entrance could occur around 8:40 p.m. The entire event will begin with the first bell at 2:50 p.m., with seven fights scheduled before the ESPN broadcast begins.
Information about the fight and supporting program of Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan
- Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) vs. Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1), Super middleweight. If Munguia wants to face Canelo Alvarez again, he’ll have to win fights and look good doing it. It’s a tough division, but Munguia is one of the best. Bazinyan can put himself on the title list with a surprise win.
- Richard Torrez Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) vs. Joey Dawejko (28-11-4, 16 KOs), heavyweight. Torrez, a former Olympian, is a rising star in the division and sees this fight as the next step toward a title shot. Some say he could be the next American heavyweight champion, and there hasn’t been one from the U.S. in a long time. Dawejko, of Philadelphia, said, “It’s the right time in both of our careers for this fight.”
- Emiliano Fernando Vargas (11-0, 9 KOs) vs. Larry Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs), Light Welterweight. Vargas, the son of a Mexican-American boxing legend, is only 20 years old and hasn’t taken many risky fights against better opponents. Fryers, from Ireland, is 14 years older and has more wins than anyone Vargas has ever faced.
- Charly Suarez (17-0, 9 KOs) against Jorge Castaneda (17-3, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBO International junior lightweight title.
- Alan Garcia (14-0, 11 KOs) vs. Ricardo Fernandez (15-13, 1 KO), junior welterweight.
- DJ Zamora (13-0, 9 KOs) vs. Gerardo Antonio Perez (12-5-1, 3 KOs), junior lightweight.
- Steven Navarro (3-0, 2 KOs) vs. Oscar Arroyo (3-2, 2 KOs), Junior Bantamweight.
- Jorge Garcia Perez (30-4, 25 KOs) vs. Ilias Essaoudi (22-2, 15 KOs), junior middleweight.
- Art Barrera Jr. (6-0, 4 KOs) vs. Frank Brown (3-6-2, 1 KO), Welterweight.
- Sebastian Hernandez (16-0, 15 KOs) vs. Yonfrez Parejo (24-6-1, 12 KOs), Junior Featherweight.
Fight prediction for Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan
For Bazinyan, that’s a big step up in terms of an opponent, but not for Munguia, who has fought the best and several better fighters than anyone Bazinyan has faced. Munguia should be able to wear him down and win in the later rounds or win by unanimous decision with the judges.
Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan fight odds
According to Draftkings Sportsbook, Jaime Munguia is the favorite to win with plus 1400, while Bazinyan is the underdog with minus 750.
Weigh-in of Jaime Munguia against Erik Bazinyan
Both fighters stayed under the 168-pound limit, with Munguia (accompanied by a live band at Desert Diamond Arena on Thursday afternoon) weighing 167.7 pounds and Bazinyan weighing 167.9 pounds.
