After blasting through the Jr middleweight division, former 154 pound titlist Jaime Munguia has done the same six pounds north.
In just his second fight in his new weight class, the Mexican product outworked and outmuscled perpetual contender Tureano Johnson to the tune of a sixth round stoppage victory at the Fantasy Springs Casino, in Indio California.
Things may have ended well for the 24 year old, but before he had his hand raised in victory, his night got off to a rocky start.
From the moment the bell rang, the 36 year old came barreling ahead. His aggressiveness wasn’t just effective, but it also threw Munguia off his A-game.
“He caught me off guard in the beginning,” said Munguia to a group of reporters during a zoom call. “His pressure from the beginning was just really unexpected.”
Normally, the aggression comes from the side of Munguia, but with his opponent refusing to cede any ground, he had to go into his bag of tricks and make an adjustment.
“My uppercuts were key in turning things in my favor,” said Munguia.
His various punch selection, along with his footwork allowed him to find space for a few of his thudding shots as the rounds went by.
Seemingly needing to switch up his game plan, Johnson turned from orthodox to southpaw during the third and fourth rounds to bring some momentum in his direction. By all accounts, Johnson’s plan found success as he began landing a few eye catching shots of his own. That however, was short lived as Munguia began picking up the pace.
As rounds five and six came rolling by, it appeared as though the older veteran figured out his younger opponent. The pressure and ubiquitous punches he threw were finding their target and Munguia was seemingly tiring.
Somewhere amongst the fray of punches that were thrown by both men was a shot that turned the fight completely in the favor of Munguia. At the end of the sixth round, the ringside doctor was called to the apron so that he could take a closer look at the veteran’s lip which was seemingly holding on by a thread. The pleas of Johnson to allow him to continue were rebuffed as the contest was called off. As a result of the early stoppage, Munguia was handed the victory as it was ruled that the cut was due to a punch as opposed to a head butt.
