OUT OF NOWHERE
Late replacement Munguia stuns Ali to become WBO champion
Late sub Jaime Munguia shocks Sadam Ali to claim world honours
JAIME MUNGUIA took full advantage of a golden and unexpected opportunity as the late replacement marched through
Sadam Ali to score a dominating stoppage and secure the WBO superwelterweight title at Turning Stone Resort and Casino. How Ali must have wished his originally scheduled opponent, Liam Smith, had not succumbed to a skin infection; whatever damage the Liverpool man might have inflicted on the Brooklynite, it surely would not have been as violent as the punishment meted out by Tijuana’s Munguia, who drove Ali to the canvas four times in a little more than three rounds of action.
And how Munguia must have thanked the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who controversially rejected him as an opponent for Gennady Golovkin after Canelo Alvarez withdrew from their scheduled May 5 rematch. That left the him free to challenge Ali, a chance he took with both of his powerful fists.
Ali weighed in a quarter-pound heavier than his foe, but on fight night, Munguia had rehydrated to 170lbs, and positively dwarfed the champion. That size differential came with a pronounced strength advantage, and Munguia hurt Ali with the first left hook he landed cleanly, which bowled Ali over in the opening seconds.
Another hook, followed by a sweeping right, dropped Ali a second time before the opening frame ended; and a pair of right hands decked him again in the second. Ali fought back valiantly in the third, but although he was able to land some clean hooks of his own, they had no discernible effect, and before that round concluded, he was down again.
Referee Gary Rosato determined that that tumble was not a knockdown, but Ali returned to his corner on unsteady legs, and Rosato urged either the fighter’s corner or the ringside physician to halt the contest. Neither did so, to the referee’s evident irritation; and once Munguia connected with a powerful hook that floored Ali hard in the fourth, Rosato instantly brought matters to a conclusion. Time was 1-02.
“He’s very strong,” acknowledged Ali afterwards. “He caught me early and that kind of messed things up. No excuses. He was the better man.”
“This is huge for me. It’s a dream come true,” said Munguia. “I want to thank the Nevada Commission for giving me a path to this fight. And now I’m a champion.” Otuma, Mexico’s Rey Vargas retained his WBC super-bantamweight belt by repelling a determined assault from Azat Hovhannisyan to secure a unanimous decision. Hovhannisyan – originally from Yerevan, Armenia, but now resident in Los Angeles – had his fair share of moments: buckling Vargas’ knee with a right hand in the first, catching him with a clean hook in the fifth, and landing a trio of hooks to open the sixth. While he at times appeared to be waning under Vargas’ brutalising body assault, he actually finished the stronger, arguably taking the final two rounds.
By the end of the fight, blood was streaming from cuts above both of Vargas’ eyes – although that was as much the result of accidental headbutts as punches. But Vargas responded to Hovhannisyan’s attacks with poise, ring generalship, technique and precise, punishing straight counter-punches, as well as those blistering body blows. Kevin Morgan and Don Trella were perhaps a tad unfair to Hovhannisyan with their scores of 118-110 and 117111 respectively, but Eric Marlinski was probably on the money with his card of 116-112. Referee was Charlie Fitch. On paper, Landover, Maryland’s Kevin Rivers Jnr might have expected to get past Diuhl Olguin of Guadalajara, but instead the featherweight prospect found himself in a fierce scrap and ultimately on the wrong end of a split decision. His cause was not aided by referee Danny Schiavone calling a thirdround knockdown, when Rivers had in fact hit the canvas as a result of his own momentum after missing a punch. After six rounds, judge Morgan still saw Rivers the winner by a score of 58-55, but he was overruled by Trella and Don Ackerman, who saw it 57-56 and 58-55 respectively for Mexican Olguin.
THE VERDICT Munguia announces himself as a player in the packed super-welterweight division.