PHOENIX — A statement was demanded.
Statement delivered.
Jaime Munguia did what Canelo Alvarez could not. He stopped a tough, smart John Ryder Saturday night in a super-middleweight fight that was a test of Munguia’s potential.
There’s plenty of that, perhaps enough for him to land a Canelo fight projected to be in May. It’s all up to Canelo, whose pay-per-view clout and celebrity comes with a perk. He does what he wants to.
It’s anybody’s guess as to whether he wants the Munguia that 10,836 fans at Footprint Center saw against Ryder, whose corner threw in the towel at 1:25 of the ninth round.
“It would be an honor to be in the same ring with him,’’ Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) said when asked the inevitable Canelo question.
Canelo or not, there’s one thing certain about Munguia, a 27-year-old fighter from Tijuana. He stepped out of the ring with enhanced credibility.
He’s a player, a proven threat at 168 pounds. Put him alongside David Benavidez, David Morrell, Edgar Berlanga and Jermall Charlo.
“I was ready for this,’’ he said. “I knew I was ready for this.’’
He knew more than just about anybody other than his Hall of Fame trainer, Freddie Roach. Roach predicated Munguia would win an eighth-round TKO. Roach missed by only a round.
Munguia did it with four knockdowns of Ryder (32-7, 18 KOs), a 35-year-old fighter who faces some tough question about whether his career has come to end.
Munguia knocked down Ryder in the second with a body shot that left a nasty red mark Ryder’s right side. He knocked down the UK fighter again in the fourth with successive left hands.
Then, there was the ninth. There was a right to the top head. Ryder was down for a third time. Then another blow to the head. Ryder was down for a fourth time. The towel soon followed, a sign of surrender for Ryder and the beginning of a second chapter for the emerging Munguia.
Minimum Weight, Max Power: Oscar Collazo retains title
It’s called minimum. Somehow, that isn’t quite fair to Oscar Collazo.
Maximum is more like it.
Collazo, the World Boxing Organization’s minimum weight champion flashed max power, knocking Reyneris Gutierrez, into the ropes and then flat on the canvas before the referee interceded and stopped it for third-round TKO Saturday night on the Jaime Munguia-John Ryder featured card at Footprint Center.
First, it was a huge right hand form Collazo (9-0, 7 KOs) that drove Gutierrez (10-2, 2 KOs) into the ropes. If not for those ropes, The Nicaraguan would have tumbled out of the ring, over the work table and onto the floor. Then, it was a left hand from the Puerto Rican. This time, no ropes were in the way. Gutierrez hit the deck. Moments later, it was over, a TKO:at 37 seconds of the third.
Darius Fulghum wins a unanimously-booed dud
It was a fight full of clinches, missed punches, rabbit punches, boos and more boos. There was even the wave.
Just when you thought it was extinct, Darius Fulghum and Alantez Fox brought it back. That’s how bad their super-middleweight fight was on the DAZN-streamed undercard for the Jaime Munguia-John Ryder mnin event at Footprint Center Saturday night.
The booing started in the second round. It got louder, even louder, until a near capacity crowd just bored. It started doing the wave. Yeah, that wave. Hands up, stand up and sit down, going from section to section in an undulating ring around the arena. Hey, it was better than watching the fight.
By the way, Fulghum (10-, 9 KOs), of Houston, won it, scoring a majority
decision over Fox (28-6-1, 13 KOs), of Upper Marlboro MD.
Not so sweet stoppage
Gabriela “Sweet Poison” Fundora 12-0 (9KOs) made her first women’s IBF Flyweight title defense VS Christina Cruz 6-0. The fight was a battle of the sweet science of hit but not get hit, no one fighter looked dominate in the match. One fighter did control the ring through out the fight and was more active with her combinations and stunning her opponent. Fundora was using her ring IQ to cut off the ring and edging out the rounds in her favor in a very close fight. More over as the championship rounds rolled along Gabriela showed the heart of a warrior and took the fight over effortlessly out boxing Cruz. With less than a minute left in the 10th and final round referee Chris Flores stepped in and called a end to the fight in a controversial fashion. Cruz was not hurt and was simply walking away with her guard up still defending herself. Visibly upset Cruz pleaded her case of why it should not have been stopped with some ringside having it a drawing going into the final round. Coming out on top and staying undefeated Fundora moves to 13-0 (10KOs) in a post fight interview Fundora praised Cruz “Cruz is a good fighter and glad she stepped up” also “I looked to her because she was an olympian and had a picture on my wall as a kid” ending her statement by saying “Cruz is an amazing fighter and it was an honor to share the ring”. When asked about the stoppage Fundora stated “I unleashed on her, and she turned around indicating she no longer wanted to fight”
One can only ask if she deserves a rematch or does the co-promotions between Golden Boy Promotions and Sampson Promotion look to set up a fight for undisputed later this year, Seemingly the road block to undisputed is Marlen Esparza who holds the other 3 tittle and has an upcoming fight that she can not look past herself. Just as her smile, the future is bright for the undefeated fighter of Coachella, CA….David Galaviz
David Picasso scores unanimous decision in U.S. debut
David Picasso wasn’t looking for a masterpiece.
Just a victory.
He got it.
In his first appearance in the United States, Picasso, an unbeaten featherweight from Mexico City, scored repeatedly early, tired midway, then held on and held off Erik Ruiz in the late rounds.
All of it was enough for Picasso (27-0-1, 15 KOs) to secure a unanimous decision over Ruiz (17-10-1, 7 KOs), a fighter from Oxnard, Calif., who from round to round got more aggressive in a 10-rounder in the first DAZN-streamed fight on the Munguia-Ryder card at Footprint Center.
Daniel Garcia scores crushing first round stoppage
It was over before a lot of arriving fans ever got to their seats.
Daniel Garcia finished the non-DAZN portion of the Jaime Munguia-John Ryder card in a flash at Footprint Center. Daniel Lugo may have seen it coming. But he couldn’t do much about it.
Garcia (8-0, 6 KOs), an unbeaten lightweight from Denver, sent a right hand flying over the edge of Lugo’s upraised gloves. Boom, it landed, crashing off Lugo’s chin and driving his head up and around. By the time some fans looked up, it was over.
Lugo (4-2, 1 KO), of Phoenix was down and out, a stoppage loser at 1:51 of the first round.
Gregory Morales scores unanimous decision, rocks Ron and the crowd
In the third bout of the night Gregory Morales (15-1, 9KOs) of San Antonio, TX faced Ronal Ron (14-4 ,11KOs) in a super featherweight fight
In a feel-out first round both fighters saved all their energy for the last 20 seconds of the round with both having success landing punches. It picked right back up in the second. However as the round came to an end, Morales showed head movement and landed some crisp punches. In the theme of the fight, Morales and Ron saved all the excitement for the end of the round. They got the crowd a little excited. There were theatrics coming from Ron. He spit his mouth piece out around the 2:20 mark. A few second later, he was warned about a head butt. The pace of the round had significantly picked up, with both fighters finding their rhythm and timing. Ron was briefly stunned early in the 5th round by a well placed left from Morales.
As the crowd started chanting “Goyo”, it gave Morales extra motivation, landing a few lefts directly to the chin of Ron.
A left hook by Morales landed. Over the last three rounds, Morales picked up the production of his pace and dazed his opponent with a multitude of punches. The last round served as the best round for Morales as he landed some great combos that made the crowd get even loader. Morales improved to 16-1 (9KOs), scoring a unanimous decision. In fight that brought the crowd to its fight in the final round.the crowd a good fight. —–David Galaviz
Toe-to-Toe: Gael Cabrera scores knockdown wins decision in tough bout
It was power against resilience.
Gael Cabrera, a Mexican featherweight from Sonora — just south of Arizona, had the power. He needed it, all of it to win.
Miguel Ceballos, one of two AZ fighters on the Munguia-Ryder card, had the resilience, almost enough of it to score an upset.
But the power prevailed. A straight right hand from Cabrera (4-0, 3 KOs) put Ceballos down in the first round. Then, Cabrera held on, withstanding repeated bursts of energy from Ceballos (2-1, 2 KOs), of Peoria AZ. Cabrera appeared to tire, but he still had enough power in both hands to keep Ceballos off him. The result: Cabrera won a unanimous decision in a hard-fought fight.
First Bell: Munguia-Ryder card begins with a quick stoppage
It should have been a matinee. But Jonathan Canas turned it into a short subject.
Canas, a lightweight from Santa Ana CA, needed only 64 seconds to finish Kameeko Hall in the opening bout Saturday afternoon on the card featuring Jaime Mungia-John Ryder at Footprint Center.
Canas, still perfect with three knockouts in three fights, delivered a body-to-head combo that put Hall, a winless fighter from Brunswick GA, onto one knee. It was the body shot that hurt him the most. When Hall (0-4) tried to get onto his feet, he got sick to his stomach. At 1:04 of the first, it was over for everybody but the maintenance crew. It had to clean up the mess.