By: Hans Themistode
After forgoing his chance to face Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO middleweight interim crown in favor of taking on WBC belt holder, Jermall Charlo, Jaime Munguia will be forced to take a longer road to his first world title shot at 160 pounds.
Initially, team Charlo turned their sights toward Munguia after failing to secure a showdown against Canelo Alvarez. Representatives of the 31-year-old Houstonian made a lucrative offer to Munguia to become Charlo’s fifth world title defense. As reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, both Charlo and Munguia agreed on the financial portion of their highly-anticipated showdown.
However, their contest has officially gone by the wayside as broadcasting rights became unsolvable scenario. Although Munguia was hoping to truncate Charlo’s title reign, the 25-year-old isn’t entirely out of the running.
According to the WBC sanctioning body, a purse bid, which has been officially set for this coming Tuesday, March 15th, will determine Charlo’s next mandatory challenger. At the center of said purse bid will be the aforementioned Munguia and highly ranked contender, Carlos Adames.
In the meanwhile, Charlo will look to remain active by facing a yet-to-be-determined opponent this Summer. The 31-year-old titlist has defended his middleweight crown just once annually since 2020.
Most recently, despite heading into the ring as a considerable favorite, Charlo struggled with the rough and rugged Juan Macias Montiel. Still, regardless of Montiel having plenty of success, Charlo drove his record to a perfect 32-0 via unanimous decision.