Jaime Munguia realizes he doesn’t have a soft touch for his next fight when he takes on Sergiy Derevyanchenko on June 10 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif. headlining a Golden Boy Promotions event on DAZN.
After uninspiring wins last year against the triad of Gonzalo Coria, Jimmy Kelly, and D’Mitrius Ballard, the 26-year-old Tijuana native will take on the well-seasoned Derevyanchenko, whose losses have come to a group of opponents featuring Daniel Jacobs, Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, and Carlos Adames.
The quartet of foes Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) has fallen to are all opponents Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs) ultimately wants to face to prove that he’s the real deal.
But first, he must successfully pass his test against Derevyanchenko.
“This is definitely my toughest fight to date,” said Munguia. “It will be great for me if we can stop Derevyanchenko. I am preparing for a good and tough fight. We want to give the fans a great fight. I want to be convincing in the ring. We’re concentrating on giving a great fight. If the knockout comes, that will be great.”
Munguia has stopped seven out of his last eight opponents. He carries an 80% career knockout ratio.
The Brooklyn-based Ukrainian Derevyanchenko, now 37 years old, is 2-4 in his last six fights dating back to 2018. Derevyanchenko is coming off a bounce-back 10-round unanimous decision win against Joshua Conley in July.
“I’m going to try to work on distance, going to the body and head and combinations. It will be a great fight without a doubt,” said Munguia.
“I really believe that I can knock him out. Of course, when you are in the ring, things can change. But I’m going to give the best fight that I can and I’m going to look for the knockout.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.