Jaime Munguia Successful in Middleweight Debut and Stops Gary O’Sullivan in the 11th Round

By: Rich Lopez

It was a shootout at the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas. It was a night of fun filled action in the main event and the co-main event. The undercard also featured rising undefeated prospects and quick knockouts. The card was streamed on DAZN to kick off the New Year. 

In the main event, former junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (35-0, 28 KO’s) was successful in his middleweight debut by stopping Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (34-4, 21 KO’s) in the 11^th round. It was expected for Munguia to win this fight but O’Sullivan tested Munguia in the early going. In the opening round, both fighters started jabbing each other. Munguia startedto go to the body of O’Sullivan with hard left hooks. Towards the end of the round, Munguia threw a flurry of punches and stunned O’Sullivan with a left hook at the end. In the secondround, O’Sullivan was the aggressor but Munguia was still landing good left hooks to the body. Munguia threw nothing but power shots. The same intensity continued from Munguia in the third round. Munguia was looking for a quick knockout. At the end of the round, Munguia got caught with a hard right hand bythe Irishman that stunned him. O’Sullivan put the pressure in rounds four and five. Even though Munguia still did some good body work in the rounds, O’Sullivan was getting the better of the exchanges in the inside. O’Sullivan also had a decent 5^thround as both men exchanged furiously. As the fight was close after five rounds, Munguia took over after this. Instead of just throwing power shots, he decided to use his jab which was effective. As O’Sullivan kept the pressure in round six, Munguia’s jab was landing as will. Munguia was deducted one point for a low blow in the round. In the seventh round, Munguia landed an unintentional low blow that sent O’Sullivan to the canvas. In rounds eight and nine, the young Mexican was mixing his punches by landing straight jabs to the head and body of O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan was getting battered and was more fatigued. In round ten, O’Sullivan was hurt towards the end of the round as Munguia swarmed O’Sullivan with a barrage of punches. In the eleventh round, Munguia went for the finish. Munguia landed power shots on O’Sullivan which prompted the corner of O’Sullivan to throw the towel in. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:17 of the eleventh round.

It was quite a debut for Munguia at middleweight and O’Sullivan was as tough as they come. After a rough start for Munguia, he finally used his jab in the latter part of the fight to have success. At the post fight interview, Munguia called out all the top middleweights in the division like Canelo Alvarez and Jermall Charlo. Based on tonight’s performance, Munguia still needs some work on defense and not just rely on power shots. However, he won the fight as expected and provided thrills for the fans in attendance.

In the co-feature, former female heavyweight champion Alejandra “El Tigre” Jimenez (13-0-1, 9 KO’s) won the WBC and WBO Female Super Middleweight Titles by split decision over Franchon Crews-Dezrun (6-2, 2 KO’s) in a slug fest. The ladies wasted no time and came out firing punches in the 1^stround. Crews got the better of the exchanges as Jimenez walked into some heavy punches coming in. As round two got underway, it was apparent that Crews was already gassed out. Jimenez caught Crews with a right hand that stunned her. Jimenez picked up the pace in rounds three and four. Jimenez was backing up Crews with right hands and hook shots. Crews would land punches in spots but Jimenez’s work rate was winning the rounds. Round five was a good round for Crews as she was able to land some good counter punches on Jimenez. With a little spurt of energy, Crews started round six well but Jimenez finished the round strong. Jimenez mixed her attack with body punches in rounds seven and eight while Crews was still gassed. Crews got herself together and had a good round nine. Jimenez got caught with a hard right hand by Crews that snapped her head back. Jimenez took the shot well. Both women slugged it out in the final round both having their moments. At the end, Jimenez won the fight by split decision with two judges scoring it 98-92 and 97-93 in her favor while one judge score it 97-93 for Crews. 

It was an action packed fight between both women and a rematch would be fun to watch again. The difference in the fight was the size of Jimenez as she was coming down from the heavyweight division. The punches of Crews had no effect on Jimenez. At the post fight interview, Jimenez called out ClaressaShields. With the win, Jimenez is now a player in the super middleweight division.  

The undercard featured local prospects that kept their winning ways. 

Hector “El Finito” Tanajara Jr (19-0, 5 KO’s) scored aunanimous decision over former world featherweight and super featherweight challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (33-4-2, 21 KO’s)for the USNBC World Lightweight Title. The 1^st round was a feel out for both fighters. Once the second round started, Tanajara started to box well. His used side to side movement and he established his jab. Burgos made a good effort but he was missing a lot of punches. The smooth boxing would continue for Tanajara throughout rounds 3-5. The action picked up in round six as Burgos opened up with a furious body attack. This forced Tanajara to exchange with Burgos in the inside. Burgos continued to focus on the body in the seventh round and was having some success. Tanajara put the pressure in round eightand backed Burgos to the ropes. Burgos fought well off the ropes but Tanajara was the busier of the two. Both fighters had good exchanges in the round. In rounds nine and ten, both fighters traded blows and provided good exchanges. Tanajarawon by a ten round unanimous decision with scores of 99-91 and 97-92 (twice). 

Joshua “El Profesor” Franco (16-1-2, 7 KO’s) scored a 9^th round TKO over Jose Alejandro Burgos (17-3, 14 KO’s) in a super flyweight bout. Burgos started the fight well in the opening round by throwing a lot of punches to the head and body of Franco. As Burgos kept a good work rate, Franco closed the distance and started to land his jabs and straight right hands. This continued in rounds two and three. Burgos continued to come forward in rounds four and five but was not effective. Franco was landing almost every counter shot he threw. There was a shift in the fight in round six as Franco was starting to push back Burgos now. Burgos got off to a good start in round seven but Franco landed a right hand followed by a left jab that snapped the head back of Burgos. In round eight, Franco wasstill landing good combinations on the charging Burgos. In round nine, Franco landed a clean left hook that snapped the head of Burgos. Finally the legs of Burgos gave out and Franco went for the finish. Franco landed a series of punches on the head of Burgos that prompted the ref to stop the fight. The end came at 2:13. 

Two tall light heavyweights competed in a four round contest.Tristan Kalkreuth (4-0, 3 KO’s) blasted Blake LaCaze (4-8-2, 2 KO’s) in the 1^st round. In the opening round, the 6’4” Kalkreuthdropped the 6’8” LaCaze with a left hook. LaCaze got up but it was apparent he was not in the same class of Kalkreuth. Sensing his opponent was ready to go, Kalkreuth finished the fight with a crushing right hand followed by a left hook that floored LaCazeagain. LaCaze was down and out and the ref waved the fight off. The stoppage came at 1:50 of the 1^st round.

Hector “El Travieso” Valdez (12-0, 8 KO’s) knocked out Luis Rios (25-6-1, 17 KO’s) in the 3rd round of a super bantamweight bout. Valdez who just fought last month was making a quick return to the ring. The 1^st round was a feel out round for both fighters. Valdez landed the most significant punch of the round which was a right hand that backed up Rios to the ropes. Valdez opened up more in the 2^nd round. He started to land nice combinations to the head and the body of Rios. In round three, Valdez continued the onslaught and kept the pressure on Rios. Valdez continued to go to the body of Rios which paid off. Towards the end of the round, Valdez landed a left hook to the body that dropped and finished Rios. The fight ended at 2:59 of the 3rd round. 

In a ten round super welterweight bout, Travell Mazion (17-0, 13 KO’s) demolished Fernando Castaneda (26-14-1, 17 KO’s) in the 1st round. Mazion took it to Castaneda right away. Mazionthrew a flurry of punches which ended with a left hook to the liver of Castaneda that immediately dropped him. Castaneda tried to get up but he was in pain and could not continue. The knockout occurred at: 58 of the 1st round. 

In the opening bout of the telecast was a six rounder in the super lightweight division. George Rincon (10-0, 6 KO’s) blasted Diego Perez (13-10-1, 11 KO’s) in the 1st round. Rincon wasted no time and came after Perez. The southpaw Rincon landed a right hook followed by a straight left hand that dropped Perez. Perez got up and Rincon came after Perez and dropped him again with another straight left hand. Perez went down again but got up. Rincon went after Perez and finished him off with a few body shots and Perez went down again. This prompted the ref to step in and wave the fight off. In a scary moment, the winner Rincon fainted in the ring but was able to regain consciousness. The knockout was at 2:53 in the 1st round.