Jaime Munguia announces arrival at middleweight with 11th round stoppage of Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan
The fomrer WBO World super-welterweight titlist, Jaime Munguia (35-0, 28 KOs), carried his power up to the middleweight division as he hurt Ireland’s Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (30-4, 21KOs) from the very first round all the way up to the forced 11th round stoppage on Saturday, January 11t at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
In the first round, the Tijuana terror forced the Cork man back with a series of straight shots which were followed by repeated left hooks until the bell sounded. 'Spike' ended the round on the ropes, which was a sign of what was to follow.
In the third stanza, O'Sullivan fought fire with fire and caught the unbeaten Mexican with crunching right hook bang on the chin, which was followed by another to the temple, which prompted promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins out of their ringside seats as it landed well after the bell had sounded.
Midway through the sixth round, a low blow forced 'Spike' to take a breather. The replay clearly showed the shot landing well low down on the right groin of the Irishman.
In the seventh, an identical blow landed in the same spot and again prompted O'Sullivan to take time out to recover.
An accumulation of power shots in the penultimate round forced O’Sullivan to the canvas, seconds after the towel had been thrown into the ring by his corner anyway, forcing referee Mark Calo-Oy to stop the contest at 2:17 of round 11.
“I really felt the difference at 160 pounds,” admitted Munguia, who weighed a career-heaviest—though well-proportioned—159 1/4 pounds. “I felt so much stronger than I have at 154 pounds.”
Munguia looked filled out in his first fight which didn’t require boiling down to a weight unbefitting 6’0” frame. The effects were evident in his power, .
O’Sullivan was his usual teak-tough, stubborn self in there with a man on the ascendency towards a second world title reign, you would heavily suspect.
A two-fight win streak comes to a close for O’Sullivan, who can proudly say that his four career defeats have all come against world-class competition, having suffered reverses to David Lemieux, Chris Eubank Jr. and Billy Joe Saunders during his 12-year career.
In what could be the last stand for the popular character from Cork, so it's only fitting to list the accolades he's acheived, collecting the American Fighting Organization super welterweight title, Ireland National middleweight title, WBO International and Inter-Continental middleweight titles, and the WBA-NABA middleweight belt.
Meanwhile, Munguia kept his perfect record intact and sent a shockwave through the 160-pound division as he makes his way back to world titles in 2020.
In vacating his 154-pound title late last year, came his placement as the number-one ranked contender to the 160-pound belt currently in possession of Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade, who has a voluntary defense versus Ireland’s Luke Keeler later this month.
A win from Andrade could set up Munguia’s next title fight if he so chooses that route.
"I want all the best middleweights," the victor tols DAZN's Claudia Trejos after his win. "I want [World middleweight champion Saul] Canelo Alvarez, [two-tour middleweight titlist] Gennadiy Golovkin, [unbeaten middleweight titlist Jermall] Charlo. I want them all.”
For now, he will take whatever he can get and the middleweight division gladly welcomes his services as one more entertaining option has been added to the mix.