Jaime Munguia, Erik Bazinyan Make Weight For ESPN Headliner From Glendale, Arizona
Jaime Munguia is set for the next phase of his still promising career.
The former WBO junior middleweight titlist and current 168-pound contender is set for his first fight since the lone loss of his career. Tijuana’s Munguia was 167.7 pounds, whiel Canada’s Erik Bazinyan weighed 167.9 pounds.
Their scheduled 12-round super middleweight bout headlines an ESPN tripleheader Friday from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Munguia (43-1, 34 knockouts) is coming off a May 4 defeat to RING super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs). Their bout marked Munguia’s first fight as a Pay-Per-View headliner.
Friday marks his debut on ESPN and aligned with Top Rank. He enters the fight as The Ring’s No. 2-rated super middleweight.
Top Rank went all in for his first fight under its umbrella. His weigh-in entrance came complete with a promotional package and a live mariachi band.
Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs) is no stranger to the platform. The Ring’s No. 7-rated contender has appeared on ESPN+ several times under Camille Estephan’s Eye of the Tiger Management promotion.
His last outing took some shine off his career progress, however. Bazinyan endured his first blemish in a ten-round draw with unheralded Shakeel Phinn on May 2 in Montreal.
The bout versus Munguia is Bazinyan’s first on U.S. soil since 2019.
ESPN undercard (10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT)
Richard Torrez Jr (10-0, 10 KOs), Tulare, California, 232.6 pounds
Joey Dawejko (28-11-4, 16 KOs), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 244.1 pounds
8 rounds, heavyweight
Emiliano Vargas (11-0, 9 KOs), Las Vegas via Oxnard, California, 139.2 pounds
Larry Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs), Clones, Ireland, 138.2 pounds
8 rounds, junior weltertweight
ESPN+ preliminary undercard (6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT)
Charly Suarez (17-0, 9 KOs), Manila, Philippines, 129.4 pounds
Jorge Castaneda (17-3, 13 KOs), Laredo, Texas, 129.1 pounds
10 rounds, junior lightweight
Alan Garcia (14-0, 11 KOs), Ulysses, Kansas, pounds, 137.3 pounds
Ricardo Fernandez (15-13, 1 KO), Longoro, Spain, 137.2 pounds
Demler “DJ” Zamora (13-0, 9 KOs), Las Vegas, Nevada, 130.7 pounds
Gerardo Antonio Perez (12-5-1, KOs), Salta, Argentina 133.2 pounds*
8 rounds, junior lightweight (131-pound contract limit; *Perez 2.2 pounds over)
Steven Navarro (3-0, 3 KOs), Los Angeles, California, 115.2 pounds
Oscar Arroyo (3-2, 2 KOs), West Hempstead, New York, 114.4 pounds
6 rounds, junior bantamweight
Jorge Garcia (30-4, 25 KOs), Los Mochis, Mexico, 156.2 pounds
Ilias Essaoudi (22-2, 15 KOs), Fort Myers, Florida via Offenbach, Germany 156.6 pounds
10 rounds, junior middleweight
Sebastian Hernandez (16-0, 15 KOs), San Diego via Tijuana, Mexico, 120.4 pounds
Yonfrez Parejo (24-6-1, 12 KOs), Las Vegas via Valencia, Venezuela, 125 pounds
8 rounds, junior featherweight (*Parejo well over the limit)