Tag: Franchon Crews-Dezurn

Jaime Munguia stops Gary O’Sullivan in middleweight debut

Jaime Munguia stops Gary O’Sullivan in the 11th round of his middleweight debut at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Jaime Munguia’s middleweight debut brought up all the concerns that had tailed him at 154: a slipshod defense, sloppy punches and an inconsistent jab. But none of them, alas, would jeopardize the Mexican on this night against Gary O’Sullivan.

After a rocky start, Munguia, a former junior middleweight titleholder, eventually took control of the 12-round fight, breaking down O’Sullivan en route to an 11th round stoppage in front of a partisan crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio. 

Munguia unleashed a barrage of punches in the final round, including a strafing right hand that dropped O’Sullivan for the first time in the fight. At that point his corner threw in the white towel. Referee Mark Calo-Oy stopped the bout at 2:17 of the 11th.

Asked to rate his performance, Munguia said “I would give myself about a 8 or 9.”

Up until the middle rounds, the veteran O’Sullivan had some success exposing Munguia’s inherent weaknesses. The Irishman stepped forward for most of the fight, landing some consequential straight right hands as Munguia loaded up on his own punches. Toward the end of Round 2, O’Sullivan caught Munguia’s attention with a mean right hand and followed it up with a couple of 1-2 combinations.

Munguia’s hulking build allowed him to overpower his opponents at 154, but it was clear he could not do the same with O’Sullivan. Munguia acknowledged afterward that he opened himself the most when he threw his flurries.

“I was kind of sure and unsure,” said the 23-year-old, referring to his game plan, “because when I had him hurt was when he would throw hard. So I waited for him to get tired and then go for the finish.”

Munguia (35-0, 28 KOs) perhaps benefited from landing several low blows, two of which forced O’Sullivan (30-4, 21 KOs) to take a knee in Rounds 6 and 7. Calo-Oy docked a point from Munguia in Round 6. In the late rounds, Munguia began breaking down O’Sullivan, who appeared to be on unsteady legs. 

The new weight might’ve helped Munguia in terms of stamina, but it’s clear that he still needs to shore up his defense, a perpetually weak area that an elite middleweight will have no problem taking advantage of. The fact that he struggled visibly at times with O’Sullivan, who is no more than a B-minus-level fighter, speaks volumes. Still, that did not dissuade Munguia from calling out the division’s titleholders.

“I want to fight against the best of the division,” he said, “whether that’s Canelo (Alvarez), (Gennadiy) Golovkin, or (Jermall) Charlo.”

Munguia’s handlers, Golden Boy and Zanfer Promotions, may want to slam the brakes on their charge. 2020 should be another year of development; the lions can wait. 

Alejandra Jimenez upsets Franchon Crews-Dezurn to become newest 168-pound titleholder

Former heavyweight Alejandra Jimenez upset Franchon Crews-Dezurn in 168-lb title fight

Claressa who?

Women’s super middleweight titleholder Franchon Crews-Dezurn and former heavyweight contender Alejandra Jimenez turned in an hellacious 10-round tussle on the undercard of the Jaime Munguia vs. Gary O’Sullivan main event at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

In the end, it was Jimenez who left the ring crowned as the newest titleholder of the 168-pound division.

Two of the judges had it 98-92 and 97-93 for Jimenez, while one had it 97-93.

Jimenez (13-0-1, 10 knockouts) was a freight train all night, drowning out the Baltimore-based Crews-Dezurn (6-2, 2 KOs) with an unending onslaught of punches. Crews-Dezurn never fully seemed to adjust to the pace. She looked dejected in her corner at times, and in a somewhat comical moment heading into Round 10, Crews-Dezurn appeared to be more concerned about her weave, rather than the fight, much to the consternation of her trainer Barry Hunter.

Both fighters came out winging shots in the opening round and never looked back. Early on, in Round 2, it appeared that the much larger Jimenez might eventually stop Crews-Dezurn, after landing a slew of unanswered right hands.

But Crews-Dezurn was able to mount a comeback in Round 5, though Jimenez made sure to make her work for every second. Gassed and wobbly-legged, Crews-Dezurn was still able to land the occasional overhand right to stay in the fight.  Still, it was Jimenez who was landing the cleaner punches and controlling the torrid pace of the fight. Perhaps she also wanted it more.

Certainly there was no other concern other than the fight at hand in Jimenez’s corner. The same can’t be said for Crews-Dezurn, who had to endure her trainer Hunter’s ire going into Round 10, after a second  ripped the damaged weave from her head. “Do you want your hair or you want your belts?” Hunter yelled.

After the bout, an emotional Jimenez stated she wanted to face titleholder Claressa Shields at middleweight.

Also on the undercard, lightweight prospect Hector Tanajara Jr. turned in one his more complete performances to date in a 10-round decision over Mexican veteran Juan Carlos Burgos.

One judge had it 99-91, while two others had it 97-92, all for the San Antonio-based Tanajara Jr., who was fighting in his hometown for the first time in his career. 

Tanajara, 23, began the fight working behind his jab, but midway he began mixing it up on the inside. In Round 6, Tanajara went on an offensive spree, delivering multiple unanswered left and rights to Burgos’ body.

But Burgos had his moments as well, getting in some nice body shots of his own, but he lacked a consistency in his attack to truly pose a threat.

Junior bantamweight Joshua Franco made short work of Jose Alejandro Burgos, snapping back Burgos’s head all night en route to a ninth-round stoppage.

Though Burgos fought at an aggressive pace — he was throwing nearly 100 punches per round — he routinely left his chin open by swinging so wildly. Franco took advantage of the openings by countering his foe pretty much at will.

Case in the point was in Round 7, when Franco (16-1-2, 8 KOs) connected on a right uppercut that had Burgos (17-3, 14 KOs) scatterbrained. In the pivotal Round 9, Franco found Burgos’ floating chin once more with a left hook, sending Franco into the ropes where Burgos unleashed a flurry. Rafael Ramos intervened, waving off the bout at 2:13.

There was a scare earlier in the night when junior welterweight prospect George Rincon (10-0, 7 KOs) collapsed after scoring a first-round knockout of Diego Vicente Perez (13-10-1, 11 KOs). Rincon reportedly suffered a seizure in his corner and was taken promptly to the hospital. Later in the night, DAZN broadcaster Claudia Trejos offered an encouraging update, clarifying that Rincon had simply fainted and that “there was no problem.”