By Dan Ambrose: Jaime Munguia (31-0, 26 KOs) will be defending his WBO junior middleweight title on December 8 or 15 in the U.S, possibly against #4 WBO Takeshi Inoue (13-0-1, 7 KOs). the 22-year-old Munguia has already started his training camp for his next fight.
If Munguia fights on December 15, he would be the co-feature on Saul Canelo Alvarez’s fight against WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding at Madison Square Garden in New York. That card still doesn’t have a network broadcaster.
The 28-year-old Inoue shouldn’t be any problem for Munguia to beat, as he’s fought only low level opposition since he turned pro in 2014, and he’s been struggling to beat prospects and journeymen. Inoue has a close 12 round unanimous decision win over 40-year-old Yuki Nonaka (32-10-3, 10 KOs) in his last fight in April. Inoue has also had a hard time in struggling to beat Elfelos Vega (7-6, 5 KOs) and Hisao Narita (12-7, 6 KOs) by close decisions.
If Inoue was a threat to Munguia, he would have been destroying this level of opposition rather than barely beating them. Inoue fought to a six round draw against Daisha Nagata (11-2-1, 5 KOs) in his first pro fight in 2014. It’s hard to argue that Inoue has improved since then, as his close wins over journeymen Nonaka and Vegas would suggest otherwise. Although Inoue shares the same last name as WBA bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue, he’s nothing like him in terms of talent. Takeshi Inoue is more of a brawler in the Yoshihiro Kamegai mold. Inoue likes to go to war with his opposition. Naoya Inoue is more of a sharp shooter with blazing hand speed and huge power.
”We are seeing in December, apparently the 8th against a Japanese who is undefeated, Takeshi Inoue,” Munguia said to ESPN Deportes. ”We are seeing that possibility. He is a fighter with whom one must be very careful because he is a kamikaze, a warrior, and he goes forward and throws blows, elbows and everything,” Munguia said.
Munguia says he’ll be up for a fight against Canelo Alvarez in a year and a half from now. Fighting on Canelo’s undercard on December 15 will help slowly build a fight between the two in the future. If Munguia can continue to fight on Canelo’s cards, it’ll get boxing fans accustomed to seeing him, and this could lead to an interesting fight between the two Mexican warriors in 2020 or 2021. Munguia needs to keep winning though, and it would be better if he faces good opposition.
Munguia has fought three times in 2018 in beating Sadam Ali, Liam Smith and Brandon Cook. Munguia beat the tough-chinned Smith by a 12 round unanimous decision last May in a competitive fight. In hindsight, Munguia could have knocked Smith out if he’d throw more combinations and gone after his head move. Munguia was throwing a lot of body shots, which Smith was able to handle. Munguia was trying to wear Smith down with his body shots, but that failed to happen. Smith was still fighting hard even in the late rounds of the contest.