GLENDALE, Arizona – Jaime Munguia has fought close fights before, sweating while reading scorecards and waiting anguished in the middle of the ring for the referee to raise his hand.
As Friday’s super middleweight bout against Canadian Erik Bazinyan began to take shape, Munguia turned the tables and started pounding his opponent.
Thanks to this sustained barrage of punches that sent Bazinyan staggering from one side of the ring to the other, Munguia released all the tension of the past and began a new chapter in his career by knocking out Bazinyan in the 10th round, 2 minutes and 36 seconds into the fight.
“It was a fight I had to put my all into to win. I had to be smart and finish him off,” Munguia said. “I gave it my all in the 10th.”
After returning from a loss in an action fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the 27-year-old Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) made a power move toward free agency after contesting that fight under the Top Rank banner, following a long run since his days as junior middleweight titleholder until the setback against Canelo.
“He will make the decision,” Munguia’s Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran told BoxingScene a few minutes after the fight ended.
Top Rank President Todd duBoef, whose company has expressed interest and plans to retain Munguia, said he was impressed by both the enthusiasm of the more than 6,000 fans in the Desert Diamond Arena and the way Munguia accepted the challenge from Bazinyan (32-1-1).
“I thought he fought brilliantly for a couple of rounds, and for a couple of rounds he let (Bazinyan) dictate the pace,” duBoef said. “And that’s all part of this next chapter for him. It’s a comeback. Like the ebb and flow of the fight… when he decided, ‘I’m going to push like hell,’ he followed through. He proved he’s a guy that can finish and he’s always photogenic.”
Munguia attacked Bazinyan more fiercely for three rounds, in the third round the Canadian’s left eye began to swell and he applied pressure while Bazinyan looked for counterattack opportunities.
Munguia seemed willing to accept these strikes as minor inconveniences if he wanted to land the heavier punches that incapacitated him more. His continued strides forward to inflict this damage provided the same entertainment he created in the loss to Alvarez.
But when Bazinyan’s counterpunches caused Munguia some problems in the fourth and fifth rounds, the fight seemed to take a turn.
“I was very comfortable and doing well – he was frustrated,” Bazinyan said. “He was not comfortable with my counter-punches.”
Munguia focused on body work in the sixth round, then pushed Bazinyan back into Munguia’s corner with an extended combination that included hard right hands.
But Bazinyan responded to the pain by slamming his gloves together and forcing Munguia back with a right hand to the face.
Munguia’s new trainer, Erik Morales, admitted to duBoef that he was influenced by his own time as a boxer – “the judges like me” – when he instructed Munguia to take it slow in the ninth round and go full throttle in the tenth.
The strategy was outstanding, showcasing Munguia as a powerful force capable of destroying this top-five super middleweight contender and advancing his career while top-tier challengers such as Top Rank’s Christian Mbilli, Diego Pacheco and his recent Alvarez opponents Caleb Plant and Edgar Berlanga await.
“It was a great experience… (these competitors) are also capable of fighting big wars,” Munguia said.
