By Sean Jones: Jaime Munguia has received an offer by Golden Boy Promotions to be the next opponent for Saul Canelo Alvarez on September 14, according to ESPN Deportes. Munguia and promoter Fernando Beltran are reviewing the offer for the Canelo, and they’re interested.
Canelo vs. Munguia would be a big fight for DAZN
There will be a lot of appeal in a fight between Canelo and Munguia, but it’s not as competitive of a fight as other guys that the Mexican star can face. Canelo has the options of fighting these guys for his match: Sergey Kovalev, Demetrius, Gennady Golovkin, Jermall Charlo and Callum Smith. Those fighters are more advanced than the young 22-year-old Munguia at this point. If the focus by Golden Boy and Canelo is just to bring in subscribers and make DAZN happy, then Munguia is a great option for him to fight. Unfortunately, it’s not a fight that would be competitive. Canelo is far too good for Munguia right now. That might change in the future as Munguia matures, and Canelo ages. Right now, Canelo vs. Munguia is a mismatch.
In the past, Munguia, 22, has been mentioned as a future opponent for Canelo to fight, but very few boxing fans believed that the fight would happen this soon. It would be interesting if Canelo does wind up facing Munguia, because it’s a fight that arguably should wait until the young Jaime gains more experience, and gets a little older.
“This morning I spoke with Óscar (De La Hoya) and he asked me if there was interest in the fight between Jaime and Canelo,” Beltrán said to ESPN. “I told him that our interest is very high and then he sent me an offer that we are reviewing.”
Canelo is as good as it gets for Munguia. It’s a no brainer for him to take the fight against Alvarez, because he may never get another chance.
Is Munguia just a bargaining chip for Canelo to get a better deal with another fighter?
With all the options Canelo has for his September 14 fight, it’s a little odd that Golden Boy Promotions is looking in Munguia’s direction. That’s what makes this offer so hard to believe as being a genuine one. Is this a move by Canelo to show Golovkin that he’s not in a position to pressure him to fight? It’s unclear whether the interest by Golden Boy is genuine for Munguia to fight Canelo. If the offer was made to Munguia to help negotiate a better deal with GGG or Sergey Kovalev, then it might help the situation.
The offer to Munguia comes a day after reports that Gennady Golovkin could be fighting him in September. Munguia was said to be one of the options for GGG’s next fight. There was a big reaction from boxing fans at the news of Golovkin and Munguia potentially mixing it up. They hated the idea of GGG fighting Munguia.
These are the possible reasons why Golden Boy is interested in matching Munguia against Canelo right now:
– Munguia is looking beatable, and will likely lose soon. It’s better for Canelo to be the one that beats Munguia first than another fighter not signed with Golden Boy
– Canelo vs. Munguia will bring in a lot of attention on DAZN. That means a lot of boxing fans will subscribe to DAZn to see the fight. That’s a positive.
– Fighting Munguia will let Canelo send a message to Golovkin that he can’t force him to fight him. GGG and his promoter Tom Loeffler were hoping that DAZN would help them broker a deal to fight Canelo in a trilogy match in September. It’s commonly believed that DAZN will lean on Canelo and Golden Boy to get them to take the fight with GGG. Fighting Munguia will give Golovkin a clear message that he can’t force the fight by lobbying to the DAZN to make Canelo fight him. Just because Golovkin signed with DAZN, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the trilogy fight will take place between them.
Some fans view the Golovkin-Munguia match as an unfair fight due to the 22-year-old Munguia never having fought at middleweight, and the 37-year-old GGG being a lot more experienced.
“It would be sensational for Mexico if two of its champions face off and put our boxing on hold,” said Beltran.
This fight would give Munguia a great payday, so you can understand why he would want to fight Canelo. The way Munguia looked in his last fight against Dennis Hogan last April, it’s important that he take the fight with Canelo if the offer is genuine, and it’s fair one. Munguia isn’t going to last too much longer as the World Boxing Organization 154 pound champion. He’s too flawed to hold onto his title for another year unless Golden Boy matches him against mediocre opposition.
Kovalev still in the picture for Canelo fight
Golden Boy Promotions are also interested in WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev as the next opponent for Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs). However, Kovalev rejected an offer by Golden Boy as not to his liking. There are reports that a counter offer has been made by Golden Boy to Kovalev, but it’s unknown whether that will be accepted. Canelo wants the fight with Kovalev, because it would be a big match-up. That would be a 50-50 type of fight or possibly even Canelo coming into the match as a rare underdog.
Against Munguia, Canelo would be a huge favorite, and it wouldn’t be as interesting for a lot of boxing fans. Canelo vs. Kovalev is still a bigger fight than Canelo-Munguia. Golden Boy Promotions are going to need to sweeten the offer, because what offered initially by Golden Boy has been rejected by Kovalev. It wouldn’t be surprising if Kovalev wants the same kind of money that Daniel Jacobs received for his fight against Canelo last May. Jacobs is said to have made over $10 million for the fight. Kovalev might want that kind of money too, and you can’t blame him for asking. He’s arguably a bigger threat to beating Canelo than GGG or Munguia.
Munguia more interested in Canelo offer
Munguia has received recent offers to fight Dennis Hogan, Jessie Vargas and Patrick Teixeira. However, the offer from Golden Boy Promotions to fight Canelo appeals to Munguia more than those fights for obvious reasons.