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    • Crowds will support Jaime Munguia when Top Rank Boxing comes to town
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    Crowds will support Jaime Munguia when Top Rank Boxing comes to town

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    (This story has been updated with new information.)

    Saturday’s Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga pay-per-view bout is a tough one to top, but ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing will be looking to capitalize on the hype surrounding the blockbuster on Mexican Independence Day weekend with live boxing on Friday from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.

    There, fan favorite Jaime Munguia returns to the Phoenix area to headline the card against super middleweight contender Erik Bazinyan of Canada. Munguia, a Tijuana, Mexico native with a 43-1 record — his only loss came to Alvarez in May of this year — will certainly be the fighter local fans come to see.

    The fights have begun and Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez is in the building as host.

    “I’m thankful for all the people in Phoenix, all the fans from Arizona and all over the world who came to support me,” Munguia told The Arizona Republic in Spanish on Wednesday. “Honestly, it was an amazing feeling. The fans in Arizona are amazing.”

    Some 10,000 fans are expected to attend Friday, with more tuning in on ESPN and ESPN+. That, and the announcement that Top Rank will return in December for another major event in the region, is more winning news for the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, which was recently named Commission of the Year by the North American Boxing Federation. Executive Director Danny Vella was named Executive of the Year by the NABF.

    Emiliano Fernando Vargas, who has two fights for Munguia, said he was filled with pride watching Alvarez fight last week, as someone of Mexican descent. The 20-year-old from Las Vegas is 3-0 in his career at the Desert Diamond Arena.

    “I can’t wait to put that energy into my fight,” he said.

    Richard Torrez Jr., who was moved up to the co-feature after the original match was canceled, said he hopes fans who saw Alvarez’s match will come out to watch his night on Friday.

    “Having a guy who recently fought Canelo will kind of amp up the presence of this fight,” he said. “Ultimately, Arizona is going to show you what happens. I’m just excited to be here and show what I can do.”

    Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan Main Card: Richard Torrez Jr Takes Win disqualification

    Richard Torrez Jr. wants to become the next American heavyweight champion and while he still has a long way to go at 25 years old, the former Olympic silver medalist from Tulare, California, settled his business on Friday.

    Torrez improved to 11-0 with his fifth-round stoppage of Joey Dawejko, who looked tired at the time and was taking too many blows to the head. Dawejko was officially disqualified for losing too much mouthpiece.

    “Whether it’s a candidate or not, I’m Richard Torrez and at the end of the day I’m going to fight the same way,” Torrez said.

    Dawejko appeared to be about to stop, but referee Wes Melton intervened several times as he continued to knock his mouthpiece out of his mouth, leading to the crowd chanting an obscene word at Melton.

    Dawejko (28-12-4) landed a few hooks that shook Torrez, but he was covered in blood around his nose and all he could do in the end was protect himself from Torres’ onslaught.

    More than half of the lower bowl of the Desert Diamond Arena, plus the suites and floor seating, were filled as 20-year-old junior welterweight prospect Emiliano Fernando Vargas heard the cheers of the crowd ahead of his fight against Larry Fryers, the opening bout of the three-fight main event between Munguia and Bazinyan.

    Some of that acclaim went to Vargas’ father and trainer, Fernando Vargas. The elder Vargas was 26-5 in a career that spanned the late 1990s and early 2000s and fought a number of legends.

    Emiliano took after his father. He and Fryers had a fistfight and went neck-and-neck, with Vargas executing a good game plan despite a hand injury.

    Vargas buckled Fryers’ knees toward the end of the fourth round, landing combinations to the head. Fryers was in trouble for most of the bout, and it all came crashing down in the fifth round when a left hook from Vargas took him down.

    It was all Vargas needed, as the fight was stopped. Fryers, it must be said, fought hard and took a lot of big punches, but didn’t hit many of his own opponents.

    Vargas improved to 12-0 with his 10th knockout. He is 4-0 at the Desert Diamond Arena. The largely Mexican and Mexican-American crowd enjoyed every second of it, and the younger Vargas looked impressive.

    “I’m my biggest critic,” Vargas said. “The Irish have Mexican power! It was a great fight. Like I always say, it’s never a dull fight. Just get the experience, I have to pass these tests.”

    Charly Suarez of the Philippines won in the third round by technical knockout over Jorge Castañeda of Texas in the final undercard of the Jaime Munguia-Erik Bazinyan bout.

    Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) was in control from the start, wobbling his opponent twice in the third round. He finished the fight with a left-right combination that knocked Castañeda out, and Suarez walked away with the WBO International junior lightweight title belt.

    Bolivian Ricardo Fernandez, fighting for Spain with just one knockout to his name and a 15-13 record, stunned previously unbeaten rising prospect Alan Garcia with a right hook to the side of Garcia’s head in the fifth round. The punch knocked Garcia out, who went through the ropes to the edge of the ring and was unable to rise before the count of 10.

    The fight was the first surprise in the Top Rank boxing match between Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan on Friday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.

    Fernandez barely knew what to do with himself after throwing the punch to end the fight, and ran around the ring in excitement. He spoke to the media after the fight.

    Las Vegas’ DJ Zamora had a fight on his hands against Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez. The junior lightweight bout lasted the full eight rounds and the two fighters walked around the ring with their arms around each other’s shoulders out of respect for what had happened between them.

    There was little action in the fight for the fans, but Zamora (14-0) was the clear winner and earned a unanimous decision. Perez celebrated going the distance with the 21-year-old Zamora, who is pushing to become a contender.

    Fans started pouring into the Desert Diamond Arena at 3pm and the early arrivals saw Jorge Garcia Perez of Los Mochis, Mexico, land a hard left in the ribs on his opponent Ilias Essaoudi, ending the fight in the first round.

    Perez, a junior middleweight, improved his mark to 31-4 with 26 knockouts.

    Following Perez’s victory, Steven “Kid Dynamite” Navarro got the crowd dancing with his mariachi-tinged entrance. The 20-year-old 115-pounder from Inglewood, California, then knocked out Oscar Arroyo Jr. in the first round, knocked out Arroyo’s mouthpiece in the second round and showed off a display of fast hands en route to Navarro’s fourth win in four career fights.

    Navarro’s speed and power were far too much for Arroyo and the fight was ended towards the end of the third round.

    In the opener of nine fights scheduled for Friday, Tijuana’s Sebastian Hernandez defeated Yonfrez Parejo via fourth-round technical knockout in a junior featherweight bout. Hernandez, 23, improved to 17-0.

    The fight card between Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan/Top Rank can be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required), with the last three fights on ESPN.

    Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan fight date, start time, ring walks

    The main event bout culminating in Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Phoenix time on Friday, September 20. Depending on how long the two preceding fights are, the main event ring walks could take place around 8:40 p.m. The entire event begins with the first bell at 2:50 p.m., with seven fights scheduled before the ESPN broadcast begins.

    Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan fight and undercard information

    • Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 knockouts) vs. Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1), super middleweight. Munguia, if he wants to have another shot at Canelo Alvarez, needs to win fights and look good. It’s a tough division, but Munguia is one of the best. Bazinyan can put his name in the title-contest discussion with a surprise win.
    • Richard Torrez Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) vs. Joey Dawejko (28-11-4, 16 KOs), heavyweight. Torrez, a former Olympian, is a rising star in the division and sees this fight as the next step toward a title shot. Some say he could be the next American heavyweight champion, and there hasn’t been one from the U.S. in a long time. Dawejko, of Philadelphia, said, “It’s the right time in both of our careers for this fight.”
    • Emiliano Fernando Vargas (11-0, 9 KOs) vs. Larry Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs), junior welterweight. The son of a Mexican-American boxing legend, Vargas, just 20, comes without many risky fights against better opponents. Fryers, from Ireland, is 14 years older and has more wins to his name than anyone Vargas has ever faced.
    • Charly Suarez (17-0, 9 KOs) vs. Jorge Castaneda (17-3, 13 KOs), for the vacant WBO International junior lightweight title.
    • Alan Garcia (14-0, 11 KOs) vs. Ricardo Fernandez (15-13, 1 KO), junior welterweight.
    • DJ Zamora (13-0, 9 KOs) vs. Gerardo Antonio Perez (12-5-1, 3 KOs), junior lightweight.
    • Steven Navarro (3-0, 2 KOs) vs. Oscar Arroyo (3-2, 2 KOs), junior bantamweight.
    • Jorge Garcia Perez (30-4, 25 KOs) vs. Ilias Essaoudi (22-2, 15 KOs), junior middleweight.
    • Art Barrera Jr. (6-0, 4 KOs) vs. Frank Brown (3-6-2, 1 KO), welterweight.
    • Sebastian Hernandez (16-0, 15 KOs) vs. Yonfrez Parejo (24-6-1, 12 KOs), junior featherweight.

    Prediction fight Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan

    This is a big step up in the caliber of opponent for Bazinyan, not Munguia, who has fought the best and several better fighters than anyone Bazinyan has ever fought. Munguia should be able to wear him down and win in the later rounds, or win unanimously with the judges.

    Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan fight odds

    According to Draftkings Sportsbook, Jaime Munguia is the favorite to win (plus 1400) and Bazinyan is the underdog (minus 750).

    Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan weigh-in

    Both fighters fell under the 168-pound limit, with Munguia (accompanied by a live band at the Desert Diamond Arena on Thursday afternoon) coming in at 167.7 pounds and Bazinyan at 167.9.

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