By Jim Maltzman: Jaime Munguia faces Tureano Johnson this Friday night in a 12-round fight on October 30th on DAZN in an important middleweight contest.
The 2008 Olympian Johnson (21-2-1, 15 KOs) is a tough opponent for Munguia to be taking on so early at 160. Munguia looked poor in his first fight at middleweight against Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan last January. Jamie won by an 11th round knockout, but O’Sullivan shook him up during the contest and struggled.
The former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia (35-0, 28 KOs) needs an impressive performance against Johnson to show that he deserves to challenge Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.
De La Hoya: Munguia is born to be aggressive
Munguia vs. Johnson card has a start time of 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT from the Fantasy Springs in Indio, California. The vacant World Boxing Organisation Inter-Continental Middle title will be on the line for the fight.
The 24-year-old Munguia is ranked #1 WBO, #2 WBC, and #9 IBF, and he’s in the perfect position to challenge for a world title.
If the current WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade vacates his title in 2021, Munguia is in the perfect position to fight for the belt against Liam Williams or Kanat Islam.
“There are fighters that are born with it, and that are born with aggressiveness, controlled aggressiveness in the ring,” said Oscar De La Hoya about Munguia. “When he gets hit, everything is out the window. It’s like, ‘Let’s go forward and knock this son of a b**** out.”
“The fight with [Gary] O’Sullivan was a great experience, being an 11-round fight,” said Munguia.
Tureano, #6 WBA, #6 WBC, and #15 IBF, hasn’t fought in the last 15 months since his ninth-round stoppage win over Jason Quigley in July 2019. Like a lot of fighters, Tureano has been inactive because of the pandemic.
Johnson’s two career defeats have come against Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Cutis Stevens in competitive fights. Tureano was beating Stevens through the first nine rounds of their fight in 2014, but he was hurt in the tenth, and the fight was halted.
Jaime is still learning
“He’s very young, and he’s still learning with every fight, and that’s something that is key,” said Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Roberto Diaz about Munguia. “As long as you continue learning and improving with every fight, and you’re starting to see different aspects to his game.”
“He has the style; he has the aggressiveness. Munguia knows what it takes to be a champion,” said De La Hoya. “He reminds me a lot of Erik Morales, who ironically is his trainer.”
“Eric Morales is arguably the best champion out of Mexico ever, and he’s a great teacher,” said Golden Boy president Eric Gomez. “I think Jaime Munguia is very lucky to have him in his corner.”
Munguia has had some tough fights against Dennis Hogan, Liam Smith, Takeshi Inoue, and Gary O’Sullivan. He looked vulnerable in each of them, but he was still able to get the win.
Many boxing fans thought Hogan did enough to beat Munguia in their fight in April 219, and that was one where there should have been a rematch. Hogan outboxed Munguia, and the fans booed him after the results were announced.
Based on how Munguia looked in his last fight against O’Sullivan, he’s not ready for Canelo, Golovkin, or Jermall Charlo. You can throw in Demetrius Andrade, Ryota Murata, and Chris Eubank Jr as other fighters that Munguia isn’t ready to fight.
Munguia has got a lot more learning to do before he’ll be ready to step up against the A and B-level fighters at 160.
Munguia has to look good against Tureano
“For Jaime Munguia, it’s not only important that he wins, but makes a statement,” said Doug Fischer. “He has to win big. If he wins big, he’s a potential opponent for Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin, and anybody else who has a name in the middleweight division.”
“I am willing to fight anybody as long as I have a shot at the 160-pound world title,” said Munguia.
Prediction
Munguia will wear down Tureano and stop him by the tenth round on Friday night, but he’ll take a lot of punishment along the way.