Munguia Eyes Stunning Record in Title Fight

Boxing betting odds have the champion at -1600, so he’s expected to roll through Ballard without much difficulty. However, Ballard is an undefeated fighter in his own right.

Mexico’s Best Is Tough

Munguia is ranked the best Mexican middleweight, and he’s fourth in the world, so there is plenty of respect on his name.

The 25-year-old gets every chance to defend his title in front of his home crowd, and he has been electric in recent fights, much like countryman Canelo Alvarez.

He forced the likes of Tureano Johnson and Kamil Szeremeta to retire in the sixth round before beating Gabriel Rosado with ease last year.

Despite eyeing a possible fight with Gennadiy Golovkin, Munguia isn’t taking D’Mitrius lightly.

“I feel Ballard is going to come in his best shape, he’s a good fighter, a great fighter and maybe a lot of people don’t know him, but he’s an undefeated fighter and that’s for a reason. We’ll have to be very careful,” Munguia told Boxing Scene.

He will be hunting for an early stoppage and he looks to be in incredible shape. Munguia has had a busy career with 38 fights in the span of seven years, so he has been busy.

With a knockout percentage of 78.95%, Munguia is expected to finish the fight early. Betting online markets have him at -350 to finish the fight, so there are high expectations.

Ballard of a Challenger

It’s easy to dismiss the chances of D’Mitrius Ballard, but the unbeaten fighter has knockout power.

The 28-year-old American has broken into the world’s top 50 middleweights after going 10 rounds when beating Paul Valenzuela Jr. last year.

It was a convincing victory and it was a nice bounce-back after scoring a draw against Yamaguchi Falcao.

Despite facing a Herculean task of beating the Mexican champion, Ballard isn’t lacking confidence.

“In a lot of fights, I feel like I didn’t get to show all the tools that I have, all the skills. I feel I am a complete fighter; I feel I can do anything, and Jaime Munguia is the perfect opponent for me to show my skills and bring out the talent I have,” Ballard said.

“I’m preparing to be dominant, give a good performance over 12 rounds and if there is any chance to take it out of the judges’ hands, I will definitely take advantage, but I’m also looking forward to going all 12 rounds and coming out victorious.”

The sportsbook disagrees, but the +750 underdog has a punchers’ chance. He owns 13 knockouts from his 21 wins, so ruling him out would be a mistake.

We expect Ballard to go head hunting in the early stages, which could leave him vulnerable. He’ll need to weather the early barrage from Munguia as well, so he’s up against it.