World champion Sadam Ali will defend his WBO junior middleweight title for the first time against undefeated power punching challenger Jaime Munguia, also on the card is WBC 122 pound champion Rey Vargas putting his belt on the line against Azat Hovhannisyan. HBO will broadcast the event live from the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York.
Ali became a world champion for the first time when he defeated the retiring Miguel Cotto in an upset decision victory in 2017. Before the fight Ali was supposed to be a credible yet beatable opponent for Cotto’s retirement fight at Madison Square Garden. Ali proved the public wrong and walked away with the WBO 154 pound world title.
In his first title defense he is going up against a big puncher in undefeated Mexican Jaime Munguia. This will be the biggest step up for the 21-year-old challenger, who has 24 knockouts in 28 fights.
Munguia has fought all his fights in Mexico this will be his first fight outside of his country and in the USA, many times these high knockout fighters who fight mainly on home soil are considered hyped up fighters with padded records, this is a chance for him to prove he is the real deal by winning a world title against Sadam Ali.
The opening fight is a super bantamweight championship with undefeated Mexican champion Rey Vargas putting his WBC belt up against tough Armenian boxer Azat Hovhannisyan.
Azat landed this championship fight by upsetting Sergio Frias and knocking out Ronny Rios in his last fight. Vargas will have his hands full against the upset minded Azat.
HBO World Championship Boxing May 12 TV Fight Card
WBO junior middleweight championship Main Event – Sadam Ali (Champ) vs. Jaime Munguia
WBC super bantamweight championship – Rey Vargas (Champ) vs. Azat Hovhannisyan
Ali vs. Munguia, Vargas vs. Hovhannisyan on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 10 PM ET/PT on HBO World Championship Boxing.
