Muñoz is weary of being an ‘opponent’
Duke City vet looks to snap losing ways
Retirement from boxing, says Hector Muñoz, is for losers.
Say what? Albuquerque’s Muñoz, 38, has lost a few — 17 of his last 22 professional bouts, seven of his last eight, while facing a parade of future champions and contenders.
He has made his living that way the past eight years, fighting and losing to the best while also serving as a sparring partner to the stars.
That’s not, he said Friday afternoon, how he intends to leave the sport.
Tonight at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Muñoz (23-18-1, 15 wins by knockout) is scheduled to face Hector Garza (3-17, three KOs) in an eight-round welterweight bout. Garza, 26, of Harlingen, Texas, last won a fight in October 2010. He has lost his last 16.
Garza, Muñoz has been told, is a far tougher opponent than his woeful record suggests. The quality of his opposition has been strong, though not as strong as Muñoz’s foes. He has faced the likes of Mike Jones, Shawn Porter and Jermall Charlo — current or former world champions.
That’s fine with Muñoz, who always gave his highly touted opponents a spirited fight for as long as he was able.
“Hopefully, it’s a tough fight,” he said. “I don’t want to go in there and smoke him out right away; I want to get some work in, too.
“(But) at least I’m fighting an opponent. I’m usually the opponent, fighting the top guys and all that stuff.”
Muñoz’s career as an opponent meant accepting bouts above his natural fighting weight of 147 pounds. Last August, he fought and lost to contender Alfredo Angulo after weighing in at 163.
Friday, Muñoz weighed in precisely at the 147-pound welterweight limit.
“I’ve been fighting middleweights and super middleweights and junior middleweights,” he said, “so now that I’m fighting at my weight, I’m excited. It’s a new me.”
Muñoz has another fight scheduled July 9 at the Santa Ana Star Center and tentatively another after that. But, he said, his days as an overweight opponent are over.
“I don’t want to retire,” he said. “I want to keep fighting. The family still approves of me fighting if I can get these wins. That’s kind of my deal with them.”
In any event, Muñoz said, he plans to continue as a sparring partner. In high demand because of his high-pressure style, he has been in camp with current and former champions Danny Garcia, Mike Alvarado and Adrien Broner.
“I put that pressure on (as a sparring partner),” he said. “I don’t let them breathe. I keep coming after them.”
But as an active fighter, he said, it might take just one more loss to make him consider the “r-word.”
“If I lose (tonight), I’ll retire right there on the spot,” he said. “That’s what it is.”
Tonight’s seven-bout Legacy Promotions card will be staged outdoors at the Hispanic Cultural Center’s Plaza Mayor.
A possible highlight is a four-round featherweight women’s bout between Las Cruces’ Ayanna Vasquez and Bosque Farms’ Katie Ramirez.
Vasquez was the 119-pound runner-up at 2013 USA Boxing nationals. Ramirez is an accomplished amateur boxer and kickboxer.