By: Hans Themistode
Jaime Munguia’s career has been a slow and meticulous build.
Yet, despite being chastised by fans for his questionable level of opposition at times, Munguia has reached world level status. At the moment, the former junior middleweight titlist is ranked number one in both the WBC and WBO sanctioning bodies at 160 pounds.
With his pick of the litter, Munguia opted against facing Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO interim crown. Instead, Munguia brazenly accepted an offer take on current WBC middleweight champion, Jermall Charlo.
However, although both sides agreed to the financial portion of their deal, their showdown fell by the wayside as neither Showtime, nor DAZN, were able to agree to terms on the platform in which their contest would be viewed.
Ultimately, Oscar De La Hoya, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, is bemused by the entire ordeal. In his opinion, he isn’t fulminating against Charlo receiving the lions share of the financial pie. He’s also willing to allow Munguia to jump ship and fight Charlo on Showtime pay-per-view.
Nonetheless, De La Hoya wants to make it clear that Munguia is ready, willing, and able to face Charlo next. The longtime promoter and Hall of Fame fighter is simply asking that Showtime and their representatives play fair.
“We want the fight,” said De La Hoya during a self-recorded video. “Charlo is the champion, he gets the bigger cut, we all know that. That’s common sense. You have the fight on Showtime pay-per-view but I need DAZN to participate. They built Jaime Munguia, that’s only fair. It’s business. More platforms, more pay-per-views, what’s wrong with that?”
Presently, it’s unclear whether both sides will close the gap on their disagreements. However, those discussions could become extraneous.
The WBC has officially ordered a purse bid between Munguia and fellow highly ranked contender, Carlos Adames, tomorrow afternoon. The winner of said bout, would then become Charlo’s mandatory challenger.
In the meanwhile, Charlo is set to return to the ring this Summer against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. The heavy-handed WBC titlist has defended his middleweight crown just once annually over the past two years. In 2021, Charlo struggled against fringe contender Juan Macias Montiel, winning a tougher than expected unanimous decision.