Sulecki out of Munguia fight, Ballard possible replacement

Ballard has not fought since a December 2019 draw with Yamaguchi Falcao

Well, that didn’t take long.

Mike Coppinger reports that, just a week after DAZN officially revealed his April 24th battle with former super welterweight champion Jaime Munguia, onetime title challenger Maciej Sulecki has withdrawn due to injury. Per Coppinger, unbeaten D’Mitrius Ballard is “being seriously considered” as a replacement.

Jason Quigley says he’s down as well.

The 28-year-old Ballard (20-0-1, 13 KO) hasn’t seen action since December 2019, when he battled Yamaguchi Falcao to a draw. He was briefly tied to a potential title shot against Demetrius Andrade last year, but nothing ever came of it. Despite the layoff, he’s a solid prospect and definitely better than the vast majority of late-notice replacements Golden Boy and co. could potentially scrounge up; he could definitely give Munguia (36-0, 29 KO) a good test, as the Mexican youngster had his hands full with Tureano Johnson in his divisional debut before peeling part of Johnson’s face off with an uppercut.

The card is currently scheduled to take place in the afternoon for the sake of Sulecki’s Polish fans. It’s unclear whether that will still be the case, though moving it to prime time would result in a head-to-head clash with Emanuel Navarrete vs. Christopher Diaz on ESPN+.