Erik Bazinyan has fought super middleweights before, but on Friday night he faces the toughest challenge of his 11-year career when he faces Jaime Munguia, one of the best fighters in the weight class.
Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs) and Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) will face off on Friday at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, headlining a Top Rank event broadcast on ESPN.
Munguia will be fighting for the first time since suffering the first loss of his professional career to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in May. Munguia was knocked down but not knocked down, coming off the boards to fight 12 hard-hitting rounds with the super middleweight king.
Bazinyan’s last fight came two days before Munguia’s fight, but it was a fight to forget. The Armenian contender, who hails from Quebec, Canada, fought solid against Shakeel Phinn and was lucky to get a draw.
Now Bazinyan is looking to do what Alvarez failed to do — earn a stoppage win over Munguia — and then apply his up-to-date opportunity to put his money on Alvarez as the Mexican superstar searches for viable opponents for his May 2025 return.
“My goal is to knock Munguia out and say, ‘Come on Canelo,’” Bazinyan told BoxingScene. “If I get the knockout, it’ll be a huge statement. It’s only going to be the biggest fights from now on.”
Before the lopsided fight with Phinn, Bazinyan boasted victories over veteran goaltenders Ronald Ellis, Alantez Fox and Marcelo Coceres. Those victories made Bazinyan a top contender by the four major sanctioning bodies – No. 2 (WBO), No. 4 (WBA), No. 6 (WBC) and No. 7 (IBF).
According to DraftKings, bookmakers have rated Munguia as the favorite at -1,200, while Bazinyan is the underdog at +700.
“I’m very excited. This is the best opportunity I’ve had in my career,” Bazinyan said. “I’ve had a lot of offers, but I was teenage. Now I’m 29. I’m mature physically and mentally. I’m ready. It’s now or never.”
Bazinyan doesn’t believe Munguia is taking him lightly given his questionable recent performance.
“We’ll see – don’t let people see me,” Bazinyan said. “I wasn’t myself in that fight with Phinn. I had sinus problems two weeks before the fight. I was diseased for 10 days. It was a bad training camp for me and it showed in the fight. I felt like a rookie and I had no energy after the second round. It was supposed to be an effortless fight, but I didn’t want to make excuses right after it. I also hurt my hand in the second round and it was swollen for over a week. If I was 100%, I wouldn’t have had any trouble beating him, but it’s OK. It happened. No excuses. I’m a man. I’m grateful I didn’t lose.”
After watching the tape, Bazinyan, trained by Marc Ramsay, believed he had won the fight six rounds to four. The close encounter also gave Bazinyan up-to-date energy.
“Training for the biggest fight of my career has made a huge difference,” Bazinyan said. “It will change my life and career. The timing couldn’t be better. I am disciplined and full of energy. When I win, I can become one of the faces of Armenian boxing.”
Munguia, meanwhile, wants to prove that he simply failed against one of the best players of his generation. To better prepare for the Top Rank promotional debutMunguia reunited with Hall of Fame fighter and trainer Erik Morales after two fights with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.
“Munguia did very well in the Canelo fight,” Bazinyan said. “He did what he could. He’s a very tough guy. He has a good jaw. But he can be beaten. He gets punched a lot. I’ll raise my punches and surprise him.”
Bazinyan is also trying to thwart the Mexican contender, who is scheduled to face his stablemate Christian Mbilli, who is also trained by Ramsay and, like him, is represented by Camille Estephan’s Eye of the Tiger. Top Rank, which co-promotes Mbilli with Estephan, He is keen on the Munguia vs Mbilli match in 2025.
Munguia, 27, will be fighting for the third time this year; his last fight was a ninth-round knockout victory over John Ryder in January. He also won a close fight with Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2023 that earned him Fight of the Year honors, but Bazinyan is trying to escape the shootout whenever he can, taking down the aggressively attacking Munguia.
“I don’t think that’s the most reasonable solution. [to engage in a war] because he has more experience,” Bazinyan said. “That’s his style. He just fights. He doesn’t move. I have to be shrewd. I can fight. I can box. I’m not a one-way fighter. So it’s not going to be effortless to just do something and beat me.”
.
