On Saturday night, WBO World super welterweight champion Jaime Munguia makes the first defence of his title against former champion Liam Smith at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Smith was originally meant to challenge the then-titleholder, Sadam Ali, on HBO in May of this year, but was forced to withdraw due to an allergic reaction.
Into that breach stepped Munguia, aged 21 years, of Tijuana, Mexico.
Munguia – regarded as a promising prospect – entered the bout boasting a perfect 28-0-0 record with an impressive 24 knockouts, but which had been compiled almost exclusively against Mexican club fighters. Ali, a fast, skilful fighter and former US Olympian, represented Munguia’s first opponent of note and boasted the name of Miguel Cotto on his ledger, having upset the Puerto Rican legend in the final fight of his career to capture the WBO belt.
However, as detractors of this piece of matchmaking pointed out, Ali is also a natural welterweight with a shaky chin, having been stopped at that weight by non-punching Jessie Vargas. These fears were realised as Munguia trucked the much-smaller Ali, knocking him down four times before the referee mercifully called an end to the slaughter in the fourth round.
It is difficult to tell on that basis how Munguia would fare against the elite fighters of his division: but that does not mean that he can’t fight. After compiling an impressive record of 128-10 in the amateur ranks, Munguia was selected as The Ring Magazine’s ‘2017 Prospect of the Year’.
Still, power remains his calling card as evidenced by his 86.2% knockout ratio.
Powerfully-built at six feet tall, Munguia is a truly massive super welterweight – and could just as easily campaign in the next weight division up. In fact, it appeared he would at one point before receiving the call for the Ali fight, as his name was put forward as an opponent for middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin following the cancellation of the unified middleweight monarch’s Cinco de Mayo fight with Canelo Alvarez earlier this year.
The proposed clash with Golovkin was greeted with universal derision and, in any event, the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to sanction it. Considering the events which subsequently unfolded – leading to Munguia’s coronation at 154lbs – it may be regarded as a blessing in disguise for him in hindsight.
Just over two months after having graduated from prospect straight to World champion, Munguia finds himself facing a solid challenge in his maiden title defence against the U.K.’s former belt holder Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith.
Smith, who claimed the WBO title in October 2015 with a seventh round TKO win against unheralded American John Thompson, would be relieved of his title the following year; suffering his sole career defeat, by ninth round stoppage, to Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in Texas in September of 2016. Despite giving a game, honest effort in that fight, Smith was simply outgunned and outclassed by a superior fighter.
Since then he has rebounded with three wins; one a non-event against a journeyman in a four-rounder, and two against domestic rival Liam Williams. The first he won in controversial circumstances by TKO while down on all three judges’ scorecards by a point; the fight being stopped due to a cut over Williams’ right eye – which many felt had been caused by a head clash, not a punch.
In the rematch, he won a deserved majority decision in another competitive fight: it arguably amounts to Smith’s best win to date, with underwhelming defences of his WBO title against Jimmy Kelly and Predrag Radosevic hardly qualifying as a murderer’s row of opposition.
It will be interesting to see how Munguia fares against Smith compared to his countryman, Alvarez.
Munguia is not fleet of foot – and a slick operator in the mould of Alvarez would likely cause him plenty of problems at this stage in his career. Smith, however, is not that kind of fighter. The 29-year-old has a reputation as someone willing to have a tear-up and has promised no less against Munguia this Saturday.
No-one can doubt Smith’s grit and heart, but standing and trading with Munguia – the bigger, harder-punching man – is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
Smith does have a great engine and considering that Munguia has only previously gone ten rounds once in his career, it will be interesting to see what happens if the Liverpudlian hangs tough and Munguia tires going into the late rounds.
My hunch, however, is that it won’t get to that point.
Prediction: Munguia by mid-rounds stoppage
Article by: Paul Lam
Follow Paul on Twitter at: @PaulTheWallLam