After run of soft touches, Munguia vows to step up competition
It begins Saturday in DAZN headliner vs. Derevyanchenko
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Whatever the rap on Jaime Mungia and his extraordinarily soft schedule over the past few years has been at least the former WBO junior middleweight titleholder is finally taking on a reputable opponent after facing a string of no hopers.
He will take on Sergiy Derevyanchenko, a former three-time world title challenger, as they both up from middleweight to super middleweight for the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
After Munguia won the WBO 154-pound belt in 2018 from Sadam Ali, he made five defenses, including against the most notable opponent of his career in former titleholder Liam Smith.
When Munguia vacated to move up to middleweight he turned down the opportunity for mandatory middleweight title fights multiple times but he and his team talked often about the desire for him to face a top opponent.
Yet Munguia went through his time at middleweight (and one bout at 165 pounds) by fighting one lesser opponent after another.
All in all he had seven bouts during the stretch between 2020 and 2022 with the most significant opponent being onetime fringe contender Tureano Johnson. While wins over Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan, Kamil Szeremeta, Gabriel Rosado, D’Mitrius Ballard, Jimmy Kelly and Gonzalo Gaston Coria may have boosted his bank balance they did help his reputation while infuriating boxing fans (and media) wanting to see the exciting Munguia face somebody who had least had some reasonable chance to compete.
Now that Munguia is at super middleweight he and his team at Golden Boy and Zanfer Promotions insist things will be different. Derevyanchenko at least represents a significant step up from his recent foes even if he built his reputation on losses in middleweight title fights to Daniel Jacobs by split decision in 2018, a disputed decision to Gennadiy Golovkin in a crackling action fight in 2019 and a competitive decision to Jermall Charlo in 2020, not to mention a majority 10-round loss in 2022 to Carlos Adames, who now holds the WBC interim title.
“We have always pursued high profile fighters like Golovkin and Charlo and those fights haven’t materialized due to circumstances that are out of our control,” Munguia insisted. “(Charlo) hasn’t fought in (two) years and is still considered the (WBC middleweight) world champion. I am not sure what his plan is moving forward, but I am ready to face him if he wants to get in the ring with me. For Golovkin, we reached out to him for this fight, and he didn’t return. I think he may be enjoying a vacation.”
That has left Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs), 26, of Mexico, to face Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs), 37, a Ukraine native living in Brooklyn, New York, who has lost three of his last four bouts and four of his last six but is far superior than Munguia’s recent opposition.
“Derevyanchenko is a tough fighter. He is someone who has gone to the ring and gone the distance with high-profile fighters,” Munguia said. “I think this fight and a victory against Derevyanchenko will show everyone that I am ready for any challenge.
“I am not very worried about what has happened in other fights that Derevyanchenko has been involved in. I do not feel pressure about knocking him out, but I do know that I am going to deliver a convincing victory. I know that I am going to go into the ring and do what I have to do to win.”
Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said once Munguia defeats Derevyanchenko they will seek even tougher opposition.
“We want all the big names for Jaime, but we want that fight against Charlo,” De La Hoya said. “After our major commercial success with the Ryan Garcia fight (against Gervonta Davis on April 22), we have the framework to work with PBC and Showtime. But, if that can’t happen, Munguia will fight anyone — Gennadiy, or even David Benavidez are great options for him.”
Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, Munguia’s co-promoter, echoed De La Hoya’s sentiment.
“Everyone knows that this fight between Munguia and Sergiy is a tough fight,” Beltran said. “Everyone knows we were looking for the best fighter to put against Jaime.
“Jaime Munguia is on the dance floor and he is willing to dance. The problem is that the other dancers decide to never show up. After this fight, whether it is GGG or Charlo, Munguia is ready to fight. Whoever is out there in his weight class, we are willing to fight.”
Derevyanchenko is coming off a one-sided 10-round decision win against Joshua Conley 11 months ago and did not hesitate to accept the fight with Munguia.
“I’m a tough fighter,” Derevyanchenko said. “If Munguia's team has big plans to make him a superstar, he is going to have to fight people like me and win. It's definitely not going to be an easy fight for either of us. Because this fight is at 168 pounds, I expect for Munguia to be at his optimal best and strongest and I will also be at my optimal best and strongest.”
In the co-feature, middleweight Shane Mosley Jr. (19-4, 10 KOs), 32, a Pomona, California, native and the son of Hall of Fame former three-division champion Shane Mosley Sr., will face Ballard (21-1-1, 13 KOs), 30, of Temple Hills, Massachusetts, in a 10-rounder. Mosley is seeking his third win in a row since a majority decision loss to former world title challenger Jason Quigley in May 2021. Ballard is coming off a third-round knockout loss to Munguia in February 2022.
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"Everyone knows we were looking for the best fighter to put against Jaime." All these Mungia jackasses conveniently ignoring the amount of ducking champions when Jamie was mandatory challenger. They'll live off the fact that he offered to fight GGG on short notice in 2018 forever, but sidestep reality of ducking Andrade, Janibek and others over the past few years while fighting total trash. And now let's act like Derev is a beast in his prime, when he's clearly not, and they're dragging him up to an unnatural weight where he'll be dwarfed, despite the fact that they claim Jamie will fight Charlo and GGG at 160.
Sadly, this IS Mungia's toughest fight since Beefy Smith, so I guess I'll be grateful for that?
Good fight, all things considered. Doing business with the PBC is always tricky. How about fights with John Ryder and Edgar Berlanga? They're all aligned with DAZN. And would be both interesting and marketable.