This is an interesting match-up - with Liam Smith pulling out of the Ali fight, Jaime Munguia has agreed to step in at two weeks' notice. Yes, this is the same guy that NSAC declined to put in with Golovkin. But this time he's fighting in his own weight-class against a guy who doesn't hit nearly as hard as Golovkin. I think it deserves more discussion and a poll. What happens here? Does Munguia repeat what Vargas did and drop and stop Ali, or does Ali manage to outbox Munguia? Munguia took the fight on short notice, but he was already planning to fight on the same day (May 12) and has been in training. He has power (24 KOs from 28 fights, and is on a 5 consecutive KO streak). However, his best wins are Jose Carlos Paz or Johnny Navarette, so this is a massive step-up in quality. Munguia is quite tall (6 ft exactly) and large at the weight, and seems to have power in both hands. He has an amateur record of 128-10, so there is some experience there, albeit at national level. However, he's only 21 and one would surely expect him to get better as he matures and gets stronger. Does anyone know why Munguia's team are suddenly so keen to throw him in at the deep end? On first glance I would have thought that there is not much point taking risks with a very young, powerful Mexican prospect. Likewise, if this is a dangerous fight for Ali, as a lot of us think, why is he taking it on short notice? It appears to be a high-risk / low-reward fight, Ali could've got a journeyman in and then set-up a unification or other more lucrative fight.
Some thoughts about that one. 1) How much power has Munguia really as he steps up in quality this time. He ko'd some random cans, yes but Ali is another level of opponent. 2) The second win vs Navarrete was impressive but Navarrete is looking shot recently, lost four of his last five fights + a draw. So maybe Munguias best win isn't that good. 3) Ali's chin isn't that bad, he took a lot of punishment from Vargas who improved his power over the years for sure, so he might take those shots from Munguia, too. 4) Munguia looks huge compared to Ali, he is a super welterweight while Ali isn't naturally. This might be a deciding factor because Ali only fought once as a SWW and i can't say it was a clear win vs Cotto. I personally scored it as a draw but 115-113 might be fine as well, still it was a close and competitive fight. Don't know if this is positive or negative at all. 5) Ali didn't look that fast @ 153 lb compared to 146-148 before. If his biggest strength is gone, i can see Munguia winning this IF he is really that good and powerful.
I don't know, the feeling is eligible but from what i have seen i think Munguia could be a real threat but the question is if he is able to bring his a game at fight night. If he is, then he might take this. I am really confident about him but no idea if he can handle the pressure and all other things around to bring the best he can.
His last two fights and prob his best wins: vs Navarrete II (31-11-2) | Munguia by KO3 (17.03.2018) This content is protected vs Paz (21-6-1) | Munguia by KO3 (10.02.2018) This content is protected
May sound weirdly paradoxical but I gave Sadam a decent chance of defeating Beefy and yet think he might be in some danger of an upset here with this relative unknown (before he was cast into the Golovkin sweepstakes and deemed the Worst Of All Options).
