Jorge Michael Muñoz (born May 3, 1981), more commonly known as Michi Muñoz, is a Mexican-born American professional boxer. Munoz is the former NABC

light middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the Intern ...

champion and has been described as one of the hottest prospects to ever come from the Midwest of America.

Background

Munoz was born in

León, Guanajuato León (), officially León de Los Aldama, is the most populous city and municipal seat of the municipality of León in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the 2020 census, INEGI reported 1,579,803 people living in the city of León and 1,721,21 ...

, Mexico although grew up in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, United States. He is one of three boxing brother along with Raul and Alex.

Career

Munoz boxed as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

prior to taking a long break from boxing before moving to the professional ranks. Munoz stated "I came back, and I feel more mature, and I feel like my body's more mature.". Munoz turned professional in June 2004, winning his first fight at Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri, in which Munoz beat American fighter Lance Moody on the undercard of the Jesse Sanders v Donny McCrary fight.

NABC light middleweight title

Munoz won all of his first 14 fights, 11 inside the distance, before he fought for his first

title belt A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

against Joshua Smith. They faced each other for the vacant NABC

title in August 2006. Right-handed Munoz injured his right in the early rounds of the fight and had to fight the remainder of the bout using only his left. Despite this setback Munoz took the title belt by a unanimous decision of 80-72 margin on all of the judge's score cards.

Joey Gilbert fight

Following another two victories Munoz then faced Joey Gilbert, the star of the original series of reality TV boxing show The Contender, for the WBO North American Boxing Organization middleweight championship at

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. Gilbert was originally scheduled to face

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

's Robert Dula who pulled out due to a shoulder injury. Although the fight was to take place at an altitude of 6000 feet at the MontBleu Resort & Casino Munoz still took the fight with just 8 days' notice. Munoz was the sharper and more aggressive fighter in the early round before showing signs of breathing difficulty as a result of the high altitude. Munoz still pushed the champion Gilbert the full 12 rounds finally losing the fight on points. After the fight Gilbert stated the Munoz was ''"one of the best fighters I've ever faced"''.

John Duddy fight

Munoz returned to the ring the following month to defeat

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

fighter Aundalen Sloan and quickly added another two victories to his record in 2007. Munoz then fought Irish boxer

John Duddy John Francis Duddy (born 19 June 1979) is an Irish actor and former professional boxer who fought from 2003 to 2010. He challenged once for the vacant WBC Silver middleweight title, losing in his final fight to Julio César Chávez Jr. Amateu ...

at the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on October 10, 2009. Duddy won the fight via unanimous decision. Munoz was outpointed easily by Duddy and also lost his next 2 fights to Noe Gonzalez Alcoba, and veteran Bronco Mckart....both losses were by KO Munoz then fought Mike McGuire who had a record of 6 wins and 28 losses with one draw, and Munoz won via KO in the 2nd round. Munoz has not fought since then and has taken almost a year off as of today

References

External links

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MySpace page for Michie Munoz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Michi 1981 births Living people Middleweight boxers Boxers from Guanajuato Mexican male boxers Boxers from Kansas Sportspeople from Topeka, Kansas Light-middleweight boxers Sportspeople from León, Guanajuato Mexican emigrants to the United States 21st-century Mexican sportsmen