Munguia and Ennis Earn Raves in this Latest Installment of HITS and MISSES

Munguia and Ennis Earn Raves in this Latest Installment of HITS and MISSES

Boxing doesn’t have an offseason like other sports.

If it did have one, it probably would have been last weekend when there was basically no relevant action happening anywhere in the world.

But the second weekend of January was a return to boxing’s new normal. It’s an age of wonder, where big fights happen all over the place all the time and the rise of new technology keeps making the sport more accessible to mass audiences than ever before.

Well, provided one is willing to do the legwork of finding how to watch the fights and pay the applicable subscription fees, of course.

Nonetheless, here are the biggest HITS and MISSES from the first big boxing weekend of 2020.

HIT: Jaime Munguia’s Precocious Middleweight Debut

At the tender age of 23, Jaime Munguia is competing in a new division already after winning a world title at junior middleweight. Munguia is still very much a work in progress, but his future appears to be super bright.

His 11th round stoppage against Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan on DAZN was exactly the type of fight he needed right now. O’Sullivan was tough and thoroughly tested Munguia’s resolve. But the Mexican wisely followed the direction of trainer Erik Morales and ended up scoring an important win in his new weight class.

Look, Munguia needs time to grow and develop, and there’s no shame in that. He shouldn’t rush into fights against upper-level middleweights just yet. But give the fighter a year or so, and then line the rest of the world up. Sure, Munguia might not ever be quite elite enough to beat the Canelo Alvarezes and Gennady Golovkins of the world, but he’ll darn sure create some fun fights on the way to finding that out.

MISS: Jesse Hart Unnecessary and Unsuccessful Move to Light Heavyweight

Jesse Hart had two cracks at Gilberto Ramirez as a super middleweight but couldn’t quite do enough in the judges’ eyes either time to earn a win. Hart, 30, from Philadelphia, is a solid professional, but I’m not sure what he was thinking when he decided to chase Ramirez up the ladder to the 175-pound ranks.

Ramirez, 28, from Mexico, is 40-0, but it’s not as if he’s a huge a draw or something. He’s not Canelo.

Regardless, Hart’s experience against Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday night on ESPN should tell the fighter all he needs to know about how he fits inside the light heavyweight division. He doesn’t.

Smith knocked Hart down in the seventh round on the way to picking up the split decision win. But even Hart’s promoter Bob Arum admitted Smith’s victory was way more decisive than that.

I enjoy watching Hart fight. At 168, he’s for sure a contender. But if he can’t beat the flawed Smith, he certainly doesn’t have any business at 175. Why not just move back down to 168 where he looked like a better fighter?

HIT: Claressa Shields: History-Making Win and Tantalizing Future

Claressa Shields won a lopsided decision Friday over Ivana Habazin to become unified 154-pound champion. Shields, 24, from Flint, Mich., won her first two world title fights at 168, her next four at 160 and now two more at 154. It’s quite the feat to do things in that order, and seeing Shields consistently improve just about every time she fights means she’s not nearly finished with doing even more.

The self-proclaimed “GWOAT” might really be on her way to becoming that someday. What amazes me the most though is that she very seriously seems to want to fight MMA fighter Amanda Nunes next. Sure, Shields wants to box Nunes in her own version of Mayweather-McGregor, but Shields also says she wants to fight Nunes (who is considered the best female MMA fighter ever) under MMA rules.

That’s courageous, admirable and a little bit crazy. I like it.

MISS: Tyson Fury Calling Ben Davidson a ‘Personal Trainer’ After Split

During the ESPN telecast of Hart-Smith Jr, ESPN aired a pre-taped interview with Tyson Fury about why he ditched trainer Ben Davidson before the upcoming Deontay Wilder rematch. Basically, Fury said that he wanted Javan “SugarHill” Steward to come on as a co-trainer and Davidson didn’t agree with sharing the role. There’s nothing wrong with that. Both Fury and Davidson have the right to choose what’s best for their careers.

But it was troubling to see Fury refer to Davidson now as a “personal trainer.” It was Davidson, after all, who spent all that time with Fury inside the gym and out while Fury made his way back from the addiction and mental health issues that had shelved his career for three long years. Sometimes emotions get the best of people and they say things they shouldn’t say. It really seems like Fury did that in this case after not getting Davidson to do exactly what he wanted him to do.

HIT: The Tremendous Upside of Jaron “Boots” Ennis

Jaron “Boots” Ennis is a joy to behold inside a boxing ring. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve seen a more compelling up-and-comer at 147 in recent boxing history than the 22-year-old welterweight from Philadelphia.

Ennis appears to have everything a fighter needs to become a superstar, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what ends up happening over the next few years. He’s fast. He’s powerful. He has long arms. Man, this guy can fight.

On top of all that, Ennis appears to be a great finisher, as he was against tough puncher Bakhtiyar Eyubov in the co-main event of Shields-Habazin. That, over everything, will help endear him to fight fans, and it will also bring him a long line of offers from boxing’s current crop of kingmakers and their partners over at DAZN, ESPN, Fox and Showtime.

Photo credit: Stacey Verbeek

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