Saturday July 27 2013 @ Venetian Casino & Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China
TV: HBO Boxing
The 26 year old Gradovich hails from Russia but now resides in Oxnard, CA. He stands at 5 feet 7 inches tall and fights from an orthodox stance.
Gradovich is coming off a split decision win over Billy Dib at the MGM Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, CT on March 1 for the IBF featherweight title. Dib was cut over his right eye in the 11th round. The bout took place on March 1, 2013.watch & Enjoy Evgeny Gradovich vs Mauricio Javier Munoz LIVE Boxing.
Munoz is coming off a split decision win over Luis Franco on October 13, 2012 which was the IBF featherweight title eliminator in a 12 round bout that took place in Argentina.
Newly crowned IBF Featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich defends his title for the first time this weekend against 42nd rated Mauricio Munoz on HBO’s telecast from Macau, China. Gradovich, AKA, “The Mexican Russian” is a good pressure fighter and a good body puncher (as the name would imply) and he is 16-0 with 8 knockouts and currently rated 10th according to boxrec.com. He was a very accomplished amateur, posting a record of 126-24, and as a professional (currently being trained by Robert Garcia out of Oxnard, California) he has displayed the mentality and work ethic of a solid champion. In this fight, Gradovich faces Mauricio Munoz, a 27-year old from Argentina with a record of 26-3 (12 KO’s), and wins in his last 5 fights. Munoz has been in with some decent guys (like Toshiaki Nishioka, and Luis Franco (#61), and he is a lanky fighter with a good reach, but he tends to throw arm punches only and he doesn’t always take care to protect his chin. I think in this fight, the aggressive style of Gradovich will pay off as he looks to get inside the long arms of Munoz and target that long torso.
All in all, Gradovich does employ much of the “European style” characteristics that you would come to expect, but he also manages to mix in a little more movement rather than simply choosing to catch punches like many of the other stand up fighters. That, and the fact that I just watched him dominate a pretty good fighter in Billy Dibb, makes me think he will come away with another solid win.
In the end, Munoz should provide a good test for Gradovich, but ultimately, I don’t think he has the power or the work rate to match the “Mexican Russian,” and I think the ending of this one will come prematurely.
