Munguia vs O’Sullivan: Staff picks and predictions

Tomorrow night from San Antonio, streaming live on DAZN, Jaime Munguia moves up to the middleweight division to face Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan in a main event at the Alamodome.

Our staffers make their picks for the main event.

Scott Christ

I’ve got zero serious doubts about who wins this fight, but I do think it’s going to be good entertainment. Munguia and O’Sullivan both come to mix it up, both prefer to mix it up, and both have some power and a lot of leaky defense. O’Sullivan has the puncher’s chance here in that he can punch and Munguia is plenty available to be hit, but Jaime has shown a good chin when hit in the past, and I can’t help but think a big junior middleweight moving up to middleweight at age 23 is legitimately going to be a bit stronger still, at least for the time being and at this level of opposition. I like Spike, he’s a fun fighter who gives his best, and while I think the Irishman has a better chance to win here than he did against Saunders, Eubank, or Lemieux, the chance isn’t great. Expect a lot of fire in this fight. Munguia TKO-8

Wil Esco

Jaime Munguia is a bit of an interesting fighter to examine. When most folks first heard his name it was in connection to a proposed title defense by Gennadiy Golovkin. The then unknown and untested Mexican fighter was written off and the proposed fight was universally ridiculed, even by the sanctioning body that was unwilling to back it. But then Munguia made his big television debut in America a short time later when he appeared in another HBO title fight, at junior middleweight, trashing Sadam Ali in just four rounds. At that point some people started to believe Munguia might have some real promise going forward, but he’s had some up and down performances since then which leaves questions to be answered.

On the other hand O’Sullivan is a much easier fighter to gauge at this point. You know exactly what you’re going to get out of him - a real battle, whether or not it works out in his favor. There’s nothing fancy about O’Sullivan, and he likes it that way. He loves to come forward, stand in close and unload power shots. And really he’s one of those fighters that’s either likely to score a knockout or get knocked out himself. That makes for easy viewing, but I just think Munguia being able to box and move around better will benefit him since O’Sullivan can’t do much on the move. So oddly enough, in spite of what I said about O’Sullivan’s style, I actually see this fight going the distance in Munguia’s favor. Munguia UD-12

Patrick L. Stumberg

Suboptimal matchmaking is at least semi-acceptable if the opponent has the tools to test at least some aspect of the A-side’s game, and O’Sullivan fits that bill. He’s a guinea pig for Munguia’s power and chin at 160 pounds; the inability to deal with lateral movement Munguia showed against Hogan will not be on the exam. O’Sullivan will almost certainly meet Munguia in the phone booth and look to leverage his cleaner punching, impressive motor, and superior handspeed into an upset victory.

It’s feasible, but not terribly likely. O’Sullivan’s static defense looks a poor answer to Munguia’s from-the-hips bruising and the young Mexican has thus far shrugged off any and all incoming fire without issue. The same can’t be said for O’Sullivan. Unless those six pounds are a lot more significant than they look, Munguia wears him down in a firefight. Munguia TKO-8

Lewis Watson

Munguia is a loss waiting to happen. The unbeaten Mexican gets hit too hard, too often and will be susceptible to dropping his 0 when he makes a noteworthy step up. As fun as Spike is, he isn’t a step up for the 23-year-old who will be able to tee-off at will in Texas. O’Sullivan is often a stationary target and as the years creep on his legs are unable to follow him. He’s not a big middleweight in the slightest and should prove perfect cannon-fodder for Munguia’s move up to 160. I can see Spike becoming overwhelmed in the middle rounds. Munguia TKO-6

And the staff winner is...

Photo by Tom Hogan/Golden Boy/Getty Images

Jaime Munguia (4-0)!