BY JAKE DONOVAN
June 27, 2023
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Oscar De La Hoya is prepared to discuss the possibility of Jaime Munguia next facing an unbeaten super middleweight.
Just not the one who fought last weekend.
David Benavidez has caught the attention of the Hall of Fame former six-division titlist and head of Golden Boy Promotions, who teased the possibility of a showdown with Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia. Both are in search for a relevant opponent to face later this fall.
“Awesome news. Jaime Munguia is very interested in fighting David Benavidez,” De La Hoya tweeted Monday evening. BoxingScene.com has confirmed that no dialogue has yet taken place, other than publicly expressed interest from both De La Hoya and Benavidez. Munguia—who is co-promoted by Golden Boy and Zanfer Boxing—has yet to publicly confirm his interest in the fight. Zanfer representatives did not immediately respond to an inquiry by BoxingScene.com seeking comment.
Munguia (42-0, 33KOs) was one several names mentioned by Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga (21-0, 16KOs) following his twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Ireland’s Jason Qiugley. The June 24 headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York City marked the DAZN and Matchroom Boxing debut for Berlanga, a popular Nuyorican who would love to face Munguia or former two-tour unified middleweight champ Gennadiy Golovkin.
Benavidez (27-0, 23KOs) has also targeted Munguia as a desired next foe. The undefeated former two-time WBC super middleweight titlist and current interim WBC titleholder even went out of his way to refute a report from another outlet who claimed that he was set to next face WBA ‘Regular’ title claimant David Morrell, at which point he specified Munguia as his most desired next opponent.
“There’s no fight with Morrell lined up,” Benavidez said. “I just seen… that supposedly they said I agreed to the fight. I’m like, ‘Man, this is my first time seeing about this.’ We’re not fighting Morrell. So, everything that’s been coming out, saying that we agreed to the fight.... I didn’t agree to anything. You know, I’m trying to make the big fights happen.
“Right now… we want to fight Jaime Munguia. He came up to 168. I think that would be a great fight, two big names. But if we can’t get him… we’ll probably do Morrell. But I’m just saying, man, there’s a lotta fake news out there. If it doesn’t come from me, then it’s not official.” Munguia became a person of interest in the 168-pound division immediately after his thrilling twelve-round decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The former WBO junior middleweight titlist previously campaigned at middleweight before moving up to the full super middleweight limit for his June 10 DAZN headliner versus Derevyanchenko, whom he dropped in the twelfth and final round of their June 10 instant classic in Ontario, California.
“Looking forward to starting discussions in what could possibly be fight of the year,” insisted De La Hoya.
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