Sadam Ali vs Jaime Munguia Preview May 12th
WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Sadam Ali of Brooklyn, New York will be defending his title for the first time as he takes on unbeaten Jaime Munguia of Mexico. The 12-round bout takes place at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York and can be seen live in North America on HBO and on Azteca 7 in Mexico. Ali won the title in his last bout which was a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto in December. Munguia’s last outing was a third-round KO over Johnny Navarette in March of last year.
Ali vs Munguia Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Jaime Munguia +140
- Sadam Ali -170
My Pick
The 29-year-old Ali has an impressive record of 26-1 along with 14 Kos. His lone defeat came against Jessie Vargas by a ninth-round stoppage for the vacant WBO Title in March of 2016. Ali had an excellent amateur career and earned a spot America’s 2008 Olympic boxing team, fighting at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China. He stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 73-inch reach and has boxed 153 rounds since turning pro in 2009. Ali isn’t known as a big puncher as his current knockout ratio stands at 52 per cent.
Ali would prefer to use his boxing skills rather than slug it out, but shouldn’t be underestimated when it comes to his power and his chin. He was at his very best against the future hall of famer Cotto last year and has also beaten the likes of Johan Perez, Luis Abregu and Saul Corral. His only elite opponents so far have been Vargas and Cotto and he’s 1-1 when stepping up in class. It could be argued that he’s taking a bit of a step backwards here against Munguia, but his original mandatory opponent and former titleholder Liam Smith pulled out of the fight due to an injury.
The 21-year-old Munguia enters the bout with a perfect record of 28-0 along with 24 Kos. He hasn’t faced any top-notch opposition as of yet, but obviously has a lot of power with a current knockout ratio of 86 per cent. He turned pro as a teenager back in 2013 and has 86 rounds under his belt since then. He was originally considered as a replacement for Canelo Alvarez to fight Gennady Golovkin on May 5th, but the powers that be wisely decided the weight and experience advantage for Golovkin was too much.
However, when Liam Smith pulled out of the bout against Ali, Munguia jumped at the chance. Munguia’s a bit of an unknown quantity here, but he’s hungry and has enough power in his fists to create some problems for Ali. The challenger also has quite a bit of a reach advantage as he’s close to 6-feet-1-inch tall, but has an unlisted reach. He’s currently ranked number four in the world at junior middleweight by the WBO and number seven by the WBC.
Prediction…
Ali was impressive against Cotto, but Cotto did suffer a bicep injury during the fight. He was stopped by Jessie Vargas and I have a feeling Munguia may be a tougher foe than he realizes. If Munguia uses his height advantage and can connect with his power shots he might be successful. Ali is quick on his feet and likes to throw his effective left hook to keep his opponents honest, but I have a feeling Munguia may pull off an upset here.
I’ve got the feeling Munguia will pull off an upset.
Play Munguia +140 @ 5dimes.eu
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Jaime Munguia betting • Sadam Ali betting