Munguia KOs Ryder, Haney-Davis Possible, Sean Strickland Gets Robbed!

Jaime Munguia has made his case for an All-Mexican showdown against Undisputed Super-Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez. Canelo now has two solid options, but both are younger, hungrier Mexicans who have the potential to flip the title picture upside down.

David Benavidez impressed against Demetrius “Boo-Boo” Andrade, and Jaime Munguia advanced to (43-0) after knocking out John “The Gorilla” Ryder this past weekend. The real shocker is how great of an answer Munguia had to each of the problems posed by John Ryder.

Ryder was able to mount significant offensive pressure and reset Canelo's offense several times throughout their contest. Munguia was hit with cleaner, arguably more destructive shots, and never reset his offense. Canelo cruised to a victory, whereas Munguia pushed the pace to a level that Ryder couldn't withstand any longer.

A key difference between Munguia and Canelo's styles is head movement. Canelo incorporates head movement with every step he takes, and every shot he throws. Munguia does not, which is why he was hit with so many shots by Ryder. Munguia has a history of being hit by powerful opponents, which adds to his chin credibility. Solid chins are a common characteristic in Mexican combat sports athletes, something afforded to both Munguia and Canelo.

However, being hit cleanly on the chin by Canelo is not a chance that Munguia should take. Moving his head off the center line is a must, and this performance against John Ryder is a blinking red light. Canelo is an entirely different beast. Munguia will need every defensive tool in the book to achieve success against Canelo.

Bill Haney's dream of going to Saudi Arabia may come true in the summer of this year. The Honorable Turki Alalsheikh gave an interview with DAZN and spoke candidly about his plans for boxing throughout 2024. Devin Haney vs. Gervonta “Tank” Davis is one of the major fights he plans to bring to Saudi, and as many know, Tank and Haney have gone back and forth on social media repeatedly.

The animosity is there, but the money and contracts are not. The main issue for some time has been the rehydration clause, which Tank has come under fire for several years in a row now. While campaigning at 135 and 140, Tank has used rehydration clauses to prevent his opponents from showing up to the fight with a ridiculous weight advantage.

For example, Devin Haney's last fight against former WBC Super-Lightweight World Champion Regis Prograis had Haney show up on fight night at 165 lbs. According to ESPN's Mike Coppinger, Haney was weighed on the scale one final time and after rehydrating he was almost a super-middleweight. It is safe to say that Haney was naturally larger than Prograis in stature and weight, and this was made apparent during their 12-round slugfest.

To avoid a situation in which he would be at a severe weight disadvantage, Tank wants a rehydration clause with a 10-lb rehydration limit. This means that after the day of weigh-ins, Haney and Tank will again weigh themselves. Both men must weigh no more than 145 lbs if the fight takes place at lightweight. If the fight happens at super-lightweight, then the weight limit will be 150 lbs.

Tank and Haney are the least of the boxing world's concerns now, however. In a world-shaking move, Rolando “Rolly” Romero has decided to defend his 140-lb WBA World Championship against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. After effectively ducking Shakur's world title challenge and waiting patiently for an offer, “Pitbull” Cruz has finally landed himself back into the title picture. The rematch with Gervonta “Tank” Davis wasn't coming anytime soon, and Rolly needed a big name.

The Ryan Garcia negotiations seemed promising, which is why the announcement has sent shockwaves across the boxing world. The online back-and-forth between Elie Sekbach, Mike Coppinger, and Cruz’s management was also a key determinant for the fight getting announced as rapidly as it did. Within minutes, the boxing world was set aflame.

It's not as if the general public can say that fallouts like the Garcia and Rolly fight are completely out of character for the sport, it already happened with Haney, and before that with Shakur Stevenson. There is hope for the boxing community, however. If Cruz and Rolly are on the undercard of Tim Tszyu and Keith Thurman, Premier Boxing Champions could be in for another great year of cards.

Rarely in history do you see American UFC World Champions such as Sean Strickland. One could say that Brock Lesnar was similar, but outside of the cage, Lesnar leads a rather quiet and otherwise uneventful life. He tends to his land off-grid and stays out of the public eye. Strickland on the other hand, is boisterous in every way possible. Unapologetically American to the bone, Strickland is part of a new breed of fighters on the elite MMA circuit.

The UFC, Bellator (now Bellator-PFL post-merger), and ONE FC are being hit by a swarm of fighters who've secured their futures out of what seems like dust. Many people are unaware, but Strickland campaigned as a welterweight first, then moved up to light-heavyweight. He's had a long journey through 185, 170, and more. It was only Saturday that all of his dreams as UFC Middleweight World Champion came to a deafening standstill. Dricus Du Plessis, a South African title defender in his first successful run at a championship, dethroned Strickland in what could be argued as a robbery.

Throughout all five rounds, Strickland peppered Du Plessis' face with jabs. If it was thrown from Strickland's left, it landed. The constant splitting of the guard left Du Plessis fighting at long range, which was crippling any sort of pressure he wanted to apply with the stand-up. This forced Du Plessis to return to his wrestling base, shooting four successful takedowns in the fourth round alone. Strickland's reputation as a solid wrestler was put to the test, truly putting on display why Du Plessis' takedowns were so important.

However, this does not warrant poor scoring. The judges in MMA and boxing have come under fire for their poor scoring recently, and this fight continues the long line of fights that end in a robbery. Strickland's accumulated damage to Du Plessis was too good to ignore, yet the judges gave no credit for this. Instead, Du Plessis was favored for his wrestling.

The same issue was apparent when Alexander Volkanovski fought Islam Makhachev, the judges favor wrestling over damage accumulation. It is unfair for a fighter to seriously damage their opponent and lose because they were taken down or held in a clinch for an extended period with no transitions. Hopefully, the rules will change as they might be for the rules surrounding what constitutes a “grounded” opponent. The governing bodies responsible will make the necessary changes with enough motivation.