The Middleweight fight between undefeated former WBO Jr. Middleweight
world champion Jaime Munguia, current top rated Middleweight contender and
former Middleweight world title challenger Gabriel Rosado was eagerly
anticipated from the moment the scheduled November 13th clash was
announced. The obvious reason for this is you had two fighters that are known
as offensive-minded boxers with one, Munguia, being a noted as a feared “Knockout
Artist.”
While it is indeed true that Munguia entered the bout
against Rosado having scored knockouts in thirty of his thirty-seven career
wins including three straight knockouts since moving up from the 154lb. Jr.
Middleweight division to the 160lb. Middleweight division, like most fighters
who are able to garner a reputation for scoring quick knockouts, he had not
been tested in his career and with potential title shots looming, it was logical
to wonder if the veteran Rosado would be able to provide that tesy for him.
In Gabriel Rosado, Munguia faced what amounted to the
very definition of a seasoned professional fighter. Rosado a veteran of
forty-one bouts going into this fight and had earned a reputation for his
willingness to fight anyone regardless if the circumstances were such that he stepped
into fights on short notice and/or viewed as a significant underdog depending
on his opposition. Rosado however, had developed a bit of a career resurgence
after aligning with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in dropping a disputed
split decision to former IBF Middleweight world champion Daniel Jacobs in
November of last year and then scoring what many feel is a candidate for
Knockout of the Year when he knocked out previously undefeated highly touted
prospect Bektemir Melikuziev in June of
this year. A fight where Rosado got up from a knockdown in the first round
before knocking Melikuziev out cold with a single counter punch in the third
round.
Despite the thrilling nature in which that knockout
occurred, Rosado still had a hard luck reputation as well having lost thirteen
bouts in his career. While it was understandable that he would again be put in
position as an underdog going into this fight, Rosado had shown significant
improvement under Roach's guidance and thanks to his performance against
Melikuziev, had also shown an ability to end a fight suddenly if given the
opportunity.
It was certainly not surprising to see Munguia attempt to
establish a quick pace from the outset when the two fighters met at the Honda
Center in Anaheim, CA. The question this observer had however, was one that can
be split into two parts. Would Rosado be able to handle fighting at such a high
pace and if so, could he potentially find a way to use Munguia’s aggression
against him?
One aspect of Rosado's approach that I noticed early on
that I felt worked well for him was the periodic use of his jab and what appeared
to be a strategy based on trying to land offense to Munguia’s body. While at
not point at least in the first half of the fight did Rosado come close to
matching Munguia's output, I did feel the strategic approach as well as setting
up counter punch opportunities would show more success as the fight progressed.
Furthermore, I felt that if Rosado could land offense to
Munguia’s body more than occasionally, Munguia’s pace would decline in the
middle and later rounds. Rosado was able to execute some effective counter
shots particularly in being able to snap Munguia’s head back with his right
hand periodically throughout the twelve round bout, but as the fight progressed,
he gradually got away from both using his jab and did not attempt to go to the
body with consistency throughout. This allowed Munguia to maintain control of
the combat in what was an exciting fight albeit lopsided victory for Munguia on
the scorecards in earning a convincing twelve round unanimous decision to move
his record to 38-0, with 30 Knockouts.
While at the end of the day, Munguia simply did what he
needed to do in scoring a victory, he was also put to the test by Rosado who gave
him a hard fight for all twelve rounds. Although Rosado simply did not throw
often enough and was not able to score knockdowns throughout the fight, which could
have made a difference in the scoring of the fight, he did succeed in testing
Munguia’s chin and Munguia did pass this test. The question now becomes is
Munguia ready to challenge for a world championship in 2022?
This observer believes that Munguia is ready and could be
a likely opponent for the winner of upcoming world championship bouts including
undefeated WBO world champion Demetrius Andrade, who will defend his title on
November 19th against top contender Jason Quigley seeing as he is
currently the WBO number one contender, or a potential opponent for the winner
of the December 29th unification bout between IBF/IBO world champion
Gennady Golovkin and WBA world champion Ryota Murata. Obviously, there is at
least speculation at this point that if Golovkin is successful in that bout against
Murata that a possible third bout between he and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is on the
table, which would see Golovkin move up eight pounds to the 168lb.
Super-Middleweight division to challenge the recently crowned undisputed world
champion Alvarez for the crown. Based on this, I believe the more logical scenario
for Munguia at this point would be to wait for the Andrade-Quigley winner to
emerge and seek an opportunity against that winner. From a business perspective, a fight between
the Andrade-Quigley winner and Munguia seems like it would be straightforward
to make seeing as both Andrade’s promoter Eddie Hearn, and Munguia’s promoter Oscar
De La Hoya have not only regularly worked together to co-promote fights as they
will be with Andrade-Quigley, but also both are aligned with global digital
subscription sports streaming network DAZN,
which would likely welcome what would be another marquee attraction for their
network. One must also keep in mind that Andrade has been clamoring for a
marquee opponent and if he should retain his championship over Quigley, would
likely welcome the opportunity to fight someone of Munguia’s caliber and
growing popularity in the sport.
For now, it is simply a process of waiting for Jaime
Munguia. Boxing fans can only hope that as the world continues to deal with the
impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic that more marquee fights that will have
significant interest will be in the works for 2022. One such bout would be
Munguia challenging the Andrade-Quigley winner.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau
Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
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