Jaime Munguia plans to stay put at 168 and believes David Benavidez is part of that promising future.
Just not his immediate future.
The unbeaten former WBO junior middleweight titlist appears to be done with middleweight and will now eye a run in the super middleweight division. The decision comes in the wake of his thrilling twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in their Fight of the Year-level June 10 slugfest in Ontario, California.
The fight came with a regional WBC super middleweight title at stake, which would put him on course to face Benavidez (27-0, 23KOs) who holds the interim WBC title.
Oscar De La Hoya—hose Golden Boy Promotions co-promotes Tijuana’s Munguia (42-0, 33KOs) along with Zanfer Boxing—went out of his way to claim Benavidez-Munguia was a priority to make for his fighter’s next outing. However, the boxer himself carries tempered expectations of that coming to fruition.
“I think it’s more likely to take place next year,” Munguia told El Clinch podcast while in attendance for the WBC’s weekly ‘Martes de Café’ press conference. “[Benavidez] has commitments this year.
“I plan to fight again at 168 in November and then we should (both) be ready for the fight next year.”
Benavidez is rumored to next face unbeaten WBA super middleweight titlist David Morrell later this fall. Members of his team—including promoter Sampson Lewkowicz—have suggested to the media that the fight is done. Benavidez himself refuted that claim and even mentioned Munguia by name as a more desirable next option but hasn’t ruled out the possibility of next facing Morrell, as both fight under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) umbrella.
Munguia won the WBO 154-pound title in May 2018 and crammed six total title fights into a 16-month span before he eventually outgrew the division. A three-plus year stay at middleweight saw representatives for the popular unbeaten boxer decline or fumble several opportunities to challenge for either the WBO or WBC title.
The win over Derevyanchenko was the second super middleweight bout for the still growing 26-year-old, who admitted the unlikelihood of returning to middleweight.
“I don’t there is a need for me to (stay) in the 160-pound division,” revealed Munguia. “I think we’re good at 168.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox