By Arne K. Lang
Top Rank was at the Desert Diamond Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, tonight with a 10-bout card topped by a 12-round super middleweight contest between Jamie Munguia and Erik Bazinyan. A former world title-holder at 154 pounds, Munguia was making his first start since taking Canelo Alvarez the distance this past May.
Tijuana’s Munguia, who had Hall of Famer Erik Morales in his corner, emerged victorious, advancing his record to 44-1 (35 KOs) with a 10th-round stoppage. It was the first pro loss for Bazinyan (32-1-1), a native of Armenia who trains in the same Quebec gym with Artur Beterbiev and Christian Mbilli.
Using his jab effectively, Bazinyan appeared to be slightly ahead after five frames. Munguia had a strong sixth round and had more steam on his punches as the fight progressed. In the 10th, he stunned Bazinyan with a left uppercut and then stormed after him, nailing the Armenian with a barrage of punches that knocked him to all fours, unable to beat the count of referee Tom Taylor. The official time was 2:36 of round 10.
Co-Main
Richard Torrez Jr continued his ascent up the heavyweight ladder whenveteran Joey “Tank” Dawejko was disqualified in the fifth round after spitting out his mouthpiece for the fifth time. Torrez, with his high-octane, herky-jerky attack, had won every round prior to the stoppage including a 10-7 round without a knockdown in the fourth stanza when Dawejko had two points deducted for mouthpiece infractions. It was the eleventh straight win for Tulare, California’s Torrez, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics.
The official time was 2:02 of round five. Dawejko, who had been staying busy competing for the Philadelphia entry in the Team Combat League, declined to 28-12-4.
In the opener on the main ESPN platform, fast-rising 20-year-old junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas, scored a fifth-round stoppage over intrepid Larry Fryers. A straight left put Fryers on the canvas and referee Raul Caiz Jr – aware that Fryers’ corner had him on a short leash – waived the fight off immediately. The official time was 1:23 of round five.
Vargas, the best of three fighting sons of former Olympian and two-weight title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas, improved to 12-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Fryers, a 34-year-old father of four from Albany, New York, via Clones, Ireland, falls to 13-7-1.
Undercard
In the last of the prelims on ESPN+, super featherweight Charly Suarez, a 36-year-old Filipino with a wealth of international amateur experience, scored a third-round TKO over Jorge Castaneda. Suarez, ranked #6 by the WBO and IBF, hurt Castaneda and put him on the canvas with a left hook. When the bout resumed, Suarez went for the kill and forced the stoppage at the 2:22 mark. Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) has yet to lose at the pro level. Castaneda (17-4) was a late sub for Andres Cortes who suffered an undisclosed injury in training.
Shocking Upset
Undefeated and fast rising Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia, a 21-year-old lightweight, was seemingly matched against the perfect B-side opponent in seemingly feather-fisted Ricardo Fernandez, a native of Bolivia who brought 15-13 record but would be giving up four inches in height and had registered only one win by stoppage in his entire career. Things were going well for Garcia who was comfortably ahead through four-plus rounds until he forgot to duck and was knocked into dreamland with a looping right hand.
Kid Kansas crashed to the canvas under the lower strand of rope and the “10-count” issued by referee Raul Caiz Jr was just a formality. The official time was 2:25 of round five.
Also
Las Vegas native Demler “DJ” Zamora III, a 21-year-old Filipino-American lightweight, won a wide decision over Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez, winning by tallies of 79-73 and 80-72 twice to improve his ledger to 14-0 (9). The scores were misleading as this was a spirited battle.
A protégé of the late Roger Mayweather, Zamora has fast hands and is very fluid, but needs to tighten his defense. Perez (12-6-1) has a fight booked next month in Panama City, Panama.
Junior bantamweight Steven Navarro, a blue-chip prospect from Los Angeles, blew away overmatched Oscar Arroyo who was on the canvas twice before the match was halted at the 2:35 mark of round three. Navarro (4-0, 3 KOs); Arroyo, a Nicaraguan residing in West Hempstead, NY, declined to 3-3.
A super welterweight contest slated for “10” was over in 46 seconds. Jorge Garcia, a 27-year-old Mexican, caved in Ilias Essaoudi with a right hook to the rib cage. He followed up with thee more punches as Essaoudi was on his way down. A 34-year-old German making his U.S. debut, Essaoudi was counted out on his knees, grimacing in pain. It was the 31st win in 35 starts for the heavy-handed Garcia, who is big for the weight class. It was the U.S. debut for Essaoudi (22-3).
In the lid-lifter, a super bantamweight contest slated for eight rounds, youth prevailed as 23-year-old Tijuana prospect Sebastian Hernandez advanced to 17-0 (16) at the expense of 38-year-old Venezuelan journeyman Yonfrez Parejo (24-7-1) whose corner pulled him out after four one-sided stanzas.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
Top Rank was at the Desert Diamond Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, tonight with a 10-bout card topped by a 12-round super middleweight contest between Jamie Munguia and Erik Bazinyan. A former world title-holder at 154 pounds, Munguia was making his first start since taking Canelo Alvarez the distance this past May.
Tijuana’s Munguia, who had Hall of Famer Erik Morales in his corner, emerged victorious, advancing his record to 44-1 (35 KOs) with a 10th-round stoppage. It was the first pro loss for Bazinyan (32-1-1), a native of Armenia who trains in the same Quebec gym with Artur Beterbiev and Christian Mbilli.
Using his jab effectively, Bazinyan appeared to be slightly ahead after five frames. Munguia had a strong sixth round and had more steam on his punches as the fight progressed. In the 10th, he stunned Bazinyan with a left uppercut and then stormed after him, nailing the Armenian with a barrage of punches that knocked him to all fours, unable to beat the count of referee Tom Taylor. The official time was 2:36 of round 10.
Co-Main
Richard Torrez Jr continued his ascent up the heavyweight ladder whenveteran Joey “Tank” Dawejko was disqualified in the fifth round after spitting out his mouthpiece for the fifth time. Torrez, with his high-octane, herky-jerky attack, had won every round prior to the stoppage including a 10-7 round without a knockdown in the fourth stanza when Dawejko had two points deducted for mouthpiece infractions. It was the eleventh straight win for Tulare, California’s Torrez, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics.
The official time was 2:02 of round five. Dawejko, who had been staying busy competing for the Philadelphia entry in the Team Combat League, declined to 28-12-4.
In the opener on the main ESPN platform, fast-rising 20-year-old junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas, scored a fifth-round stoppage over intrepid Larry Fryers. A straight left put Fryers on the canvas and referee Raul Caiz Jr – aware that Fryers’ corner had him on a short leash – waived the fight off immediately. The official time was 1:23 of round five.
Vargas, the best of three fighting sons of former Olympian and two-weight title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas, improved to 12-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Fryers, a 34-year-old father of four from Albany, New York, via Clones, Ireland, falls to 13-7-1.
Undercard
In the last of the prelims on ESPN+, super featherweight Charly Suarez, a 36-year-old Filipino with a wealth of international amateur experience, scored a third-round TKO over Jorge Castaneda. Suarez, ranked #6 by the WBO and IBF, hurt Castaneda and put him on the canvas with a left hook. When the bout resumed, Suarez went for the kill and forced the stoppage at the 2:22 mark. Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) has yet to lose at the pro level. Castaneda (17-4) was a late sub for Andres Cortes who suffered an undisclosed injury in training.
Shocking Upset
Undefeated and fast rising Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia, a 21-year-old lightweight, was seemingly matched against the perfect B-side opponent in seemingly feather-fisted Ricardo Fernandez, a native of Bolivia who brought 15-13 record but would be giving up four inches in height and had registered only one win by stoppage in his entire career. Things were going well for Garcia who was comfortably ahead through four-plus rounds until he forgot to duck and was knocked into dreamland with a looping right hand.
Kid Kansas crashed to the canvas under the lower strand of rope and the “10-count” issued by referee Raul Caiz Jr was just a formality. The official time was 2:25 of round five.
Also
Las Vegas native Demler “DJ” Zamora III, a 21-year-old Filipino-American lightweight, won a wide decision over Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez, winning by tallies of 79-73 and 80-72 twice to improve his ledger to 14-0 (9). The scores were misleading as this was a spirited battle.
A protégé of the late Roger Mayweather, Zamora has fast hands and is very fluid, but needs to tighten his defense. Perez (12-6-1) has a fight booked next month in Panama City, Panama.
Junior bantamweight Steven Navarro, a blue-chip prospect from Los Angeles, blew away overmatched Oscar Arroyo who was on the canvas twice before the match was halted at the 2:35 mark of round three. Navarro (4-0, 3 KOs); Arroyo, a Nicaraguan residing in West Hempstead, NY, declined to 3-3.
A super welterweight contest slated for “10” was over in 46 seconds. Jorge Garcia, a 27-year-old Mexican, caved in Ilias Essaoudi with a right hook to the rib cage. He followed up with thee more punches as Essaoudi was on his way down. A 34-year-old German making his U.S. debut, Essaoudi was counted out on his knees, grimacing in pain. It was the 31st win in 35 starts for the heavy-handed Garcia, who is big for the weight class. It was the U.S. debut for Essaoudi (22-3).
In the lid-lifter, a super bantamweight contest slated for eight rounds, youth prevailed as 23-year-old Tijuana prospect Sebastian Hernandez advanced to 17-0 (16) at the expense of 38-year-old Venezuelan journeyman Yonfrez Parejo (24-7-1) whose corner pulled him out after four one-sided stanzas.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank