HBO’s card tomorrow night isn’t getting the attention of the major fight on ESPN, but it is still a potentially entertaining pair of world title contests. Recent Miguel Cotto conqueror Sadam Ali returns to defend his WBO belt against quality Mexican prospect Jaime Munguia while top super bantamweight Rey Vargas defends his belt too in the co-main event.
What a difference a single fight can make. “World Kid” Sadam Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) was a 2008 Olympian and a known prospect as all Olympians are after they turn pro. He started 22-0 and while he did have a 2014 split decision scare against a lower level fighter, a dominant performance against Luis Carlos Abregu on HBO in his very next fight wiped that bad taste away. Two fights later he found himself in again Jessie Vargas for his first world title opportunity. Unfortunately despite Vargas being viewed as having little power, Ali was stopped dramatically in the ninth round.
Ali rebounded with a trio of low key comeback wins before stepping up to be Miguel Cotto’s retirement opponent in December with the Puerto Rican legend’s WBO belt on the line. Little was expected of World Kid, but he flipped the apple cart by largely dominating and repeatedly hurting Cotto over twelve rounds. It was a great and unexpected performance that both gave him a junior middleweight title and re-launched his career on boxing’s world stage.
Tomorrow night he will be meeting semi-late 21 year old replacement challenger Jaime Munguia (28-0, 24 KOs) of Mexico. Munguia is completely untested at anywhere near this level, but he is a really fun prospect I have been covering on my weekly Under the Radar Fight Results series for some time now. Munguia is a powerful, thudding puncher with a swarming attack and little regard for defense. He has a lot of Antonio Margarito in him, but maybe with more power and a much less proven chin. Given how easy Ali will likely find it to hit him, the Mexican’s chin will be the question here too. If he can eat the shots without worry, his high pressure, all action, and power punching style will make this a fascinating contest. At the very least a Jaime Munguia fight cannot possibly be boring.
WBC super bantamweight titleholder Rey Vargas (31-0, 22 KOs) defends his belt against recently surging Armenian challenger Azat Hovhannisyan (14-2, 11 KOs). Vargas has looked excellent in his last two wins over Ronny Rios and Oscar Negrete, but Hovhannisyan actually one upped him last time out by stopping Rios in six on a Golden Boy on ESPN card. He’s a big underdog here and likely will be outclassed, but Azat is also a game fighter and should make a real go of this major opportunity.
HBO has the call at 10 PM Eastern. The ESPN show should concluded before this one gets going too as Golden Boy as a stake in both cards.
