Live Results: Munguia Vs. Bazinyan From Glendale Tonight

Jaime Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) knocked out previously unbeaten super middleweight contender Erik Bazinyan (32-1-1, 23 KOs) in the 10th round on Friday night in the main event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

The former WBO 154-lb champion Munguia hurt Bazinyan with a left hook to the head. Munguia then flurried on him to drop him hard on the canvas. Bazinyan attempted to get up but was counted out. The time of the stoppage was at 2:36 of the tenth.

Earlier, Munguia had hurt Bazinyan with a right-left combination in the seventh and unloaded a barrage of punches that came close to stopping him. However, Baziniyan came back and hurt an exhausted-looking Munguia with a right to the head and finished the round strong.

Bazinyan got the better of the action in the eighth and ninth rounds with his jab and nice right-hand power shots. Munguia looked tired in those rounds and was fighting as hard as he’d done earlier.

With the win, Munguia bounces back from his loss to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez last May. Canelo schooled Munguia in that fight and didn’t have the technical ability to handle the skills and power of Canelo. Tonight, Munguia had the perfect opponent against which he could excel.

Undercard results:

– Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) defeated journeyman Joey Dawejko (28-12-4, 16 KOs) by a fifth-round disqualification in a sick mismatch. The referee stopped the fight because the 34-year-old Dawejko repeatedly lost his mouthpiece.

In the fourth round, Dawejko’s mouthpiece came out four times, resulting in the referee penalizing him twice.

After the second penalization, the referee warned Dawejko that he would disqualify him if it came out again. The mouthpiece came out again in the fifth, and the referee stopped the fight.

Dawejko had landed some big shots on the easy-to-hit 25-year-old Torrez Jr. in the round, and the fight was getting interesting. The referee was a little strict because many refs would have allowed the fight to continue.

Despite winning, the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Torrez Jr. didn’t look that impressive. He was hit cleanly each time Dawejko threw, and there were moments when one didn’t know if he would get knocked.

In the amateurs, Torrez Jr. was dominated by the big 6’7″ Bakhodir Jalolov, losing twice to him. Against big heavyweights, the 6’2″ Torrez Jr. will have many problems like he did against Jalolov. He’s too short and doesn’t possess the speed or the one-punch power to score fast knockouts like boxing great Mike Tyson did early in his career.

It’s unclear what Top Rank’s end goal is in keeping Richard Torrez Jr. and protecting him the way they’re doing. They’re matching him in the same way they did when Edgar Berlanga was with them. Torrez Jr. doesn’t look capable of winning a world title, but maybe the idea is to position him for a cash-out.

– Light welterweight prospect Emiliano Fernando Vargas (12-0, 10 KOs) knocked out veteran Larry Fryers (13-7-1, 5 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled eight-round fight. The 20-year-old Vargas, the son of former world champion Fernando Vargas, dropped the Ireland native Fryers with a left hook to the head in the fifth.

The referee then stepped in and waived it off immediately. Fryers didn’t look hurt, but the referee felt he’d seen enough due to the one-sided nature of the contest. The time of the stoppage was at 1:23 of round five.

Late in round two, Vargas had hurt Fryer after tagging him with three consecutive right uppercuts when he was trapped against the ropes. After the round ended, Vargas stood and watched as Fryer staggered to his corner.

In the third, Vargas got a little wreckless and was hurt by a right to the body from Fryers. Vargas then backed off and played it safe for the remainder of the round. Fryers’ nose was bleeding at the end of the round.

In the fourth, Vargas focused on throwing lefts to the body and used movement to avoid the pressure from Fryer. It was a competitive round despite Vargas landing the much harder shots.

In the fifth, Vargas landed a few good hooks to Fryer’s body before dropping him with a left to the head that sent him down flat on his back for the knockout.

Overall, Vargas looked good for a prospect. However, it’s still way too early to know if he’ll pan out as a future world champion. The way Vargas fought, he’d have had a lot of problems if he had someone with punching power because he gets hit too easily and doesn’t react well when nailed solid.

Fryer had zero power to trouble him, but Vargas looked uncomfortable with the shots he was hit with. He doesn’t seem to have the dog in his that his famous father Fernando had.

At best, Emiliano Vargas might be just another Nico Ali Walsh type of fighter who cashs in on being related to a famous former fighter but is not good enough to ever capture a world title. I didn’t see the kind of talent in Emiliano that suggests that he’s a chip off the old block.

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The main portion of the Munguia vs. Bazinyan card will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET. Preliminary action starts at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) came up empty, losing to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on May 4th in a fight that Jaime had been slowly working toward his entire 11-year career. That was a big letdown for Mungua, who must start again.

Losing that fight puts Munguia in a position where he needs to move his career at light speed for the slim chance of earning a second fight against the superstar. The little-known Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs) has never been beaten, but he’s also never fought any world-class opposition.

Bazinyan looked bad in his last fight, fighting to a questionable 10-round draw against Shakeel Phinn last May. If Bazinyan is victorious tonight against the favorite Munguia, he’ll have a good chance of eventually getting a crack at challenging for a world title.

Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) faces journeyman Joey Dawejko (28-11-4, 16 KO) in the co-feature on tonight’s card. Also on the card is light welterweight Emiliano Vargas (11-0, 9 KOIs fighting Larry Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs).

Jaime Munguia will fight unbeaten Erik Bazinyan tonight in a twelve-round contest in Glendale, Arizona.