After loss to Canelo, Munguia back to work against Bazinyan
Prospects Richard Torrez and Emiliano Vargas are also in action
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Jaime Munguia held the WBO junior middleweight world title from 2018 to 2019 and made five defenses before vacating to move up to middleweight, where he stayed active but never fought for a title. He is hungry for anther belt.
When the all-action Mexican fighter moved up to super middleweight in 2023, he outpointed former three-time middleweight title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko in what many called the fight of the year and then knocked out longtime contender John Ryder in the ninth round in January.
That victory paved the way for Munguia to challenge superstar Canelo Alvarez, his countryman, for the undisputed 168-pound title on May 4 — Cinco de Mayo weekend — in Las Vegas in by far the biggest fight of Munguia’s career.
Although Alvarez knocked Munguia down in the fourth round and won a clear unanimous decision, Munguia acquitted himself well in taking his first defeat in the highly entertaining bout.
Although there is no clear path to another title shot, given that Alvarez still holds three of the four belts and the vacant fourth belt is scheduled to be filled next month, Munguia is headed back to work with the aim to eventually earn another title opportunity.
After many years with Golden Boy Promotions, Munguia begins the trek back with his first fight with promoter Top Rank when he faces unbeaten contender Erik Bazinyan in the 12-round main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN tripleheader on Friday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, where Munguia will be the overwhelming crowd favorite.
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