By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions chief Oscar De La Hoya says Canelo Alvarez doesn’t wish to fight Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin anymore, so he’s hoping he can encourage the Kazakhstan fighter to face his young “star in the making” Jaime Munguia.
De La Hoya saw IBF middleweight champion Golovkin’s last fight against Kamil Szeremeta on December 18th last year. He says, “he [GGG] looked slow, he looked beatable” despite winning the fight by a seventh-round knockout.
The way the 38-year-old GGG is looking now at this point of his 15-year professional career, he believes he’s perfect for the 24-year-old Munguia to fight and defeat by knockout.
In fact, De La Hoya predicts that Munguia will stop Golovkin because he has the perfect style for him with the way he comes forward looking to brawl.
It’s unclear what happened with Golovkin and Munguia’s negotiations, as those two were supposed to be fighting next.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn had said recently that Golovkin would likely face Munguia next, but that’s not happening. Munguia is now expected to face #4 WBC Maciej Sulecki next month on April 23 or 24th.
De La Hoya is waiting on DAZN to confirm that they’ll show the fight, which could be a difficult one for Munguia.
Canelo doesn’t want to fight Golovkin anymore
“I believe so,” said De La Hoya to Fino Boxing when asked if Munguia will ever fight Golovkin. “I believe that’s the fight [Golovkin vs. Munguia] to make, and that’s a fight that fight fans would really, really enjoy.
“Just the fact that Canelo doesn’t want to fight GGG anymore, I think he’s [Canelo] past that. Why not fight another Mexican in Jaime Munguia, which would be a barnburner,” said De La Hoya about his wish that Golovkin should fight Munguia.
“Jaime Munguia comes forward, he fights, and it would be a great fight, a great match-up,” said De La Hoya. “We know that Golovkin doesn’t shy away from any match-up. So that’s one fight I can hopefully make down the road.”
With the trouble that Golovkin gave Canelo Alvarez in their two fights in 2017 and 2018, it’s obvious why the Mexican star wants no part of GGG again.
The boxing world thinks Golovkin was robbed twice, and then there was also the blackeye Canelo got with his positive test for clenbuterol.
Canelo took a lot of punishment in both Golovkin fights, which likely is a contributing factor for why he doesn’t want to fight him again.
If Canelo may end up battle-worn from the third fight with Golovin in the same way, Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez were never the same after their third fight.
De La Hoya: Munguia knocks out Golovkin
“Everything happens for a reason. I’ve always played out my life thinking that,” De La Hoya said in talking about Munguia failing to get the GGG fight in 2018. “Everything happens for a reason, whether it’s good or bad.
“I think the [California] Commission turned down that fight [Golovkin vs. Munguia in 2018] for a reason, and now I feel Jaime Munguia is more than ready for Golovkin.
“I say Jaime Munguia knocks him out. Straight-out knockout just because of the styles. Just because of Golovkin’s last performance [against Kamil Szeremeta last December]. He [GGG] looked slow; he looked beatable.
“And he had nobody in front of him, obviously. I feel like with Jaime Munguia’s age, his strength, and youth, obviously, he can just adapt. I’m ready; let’s do it,” De La Hoya said.
It isn’t easy to believe that Munguia would knockout Golovkin, even with him turning 39 in April.
Munguia looked horrible in his controversial win over Dennis Hogan in April 2019 in a fight that he was booed afterward by his Mexican fans in Monterrey, Mexico.
Since then, in Munguia’s fights, he’s fought soft opposition in Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan, Patrick Allotey, and Tureano Johnson.
O’Sullivan had Munguia hurt in their fight in January 2020, and he was fortunate to get a late 11th round knockout of the Irish fighter.
Munguia needs more experience before he fights someone like Golovkin or WBC champion Jermall Charlo. If De La Hoya puts Munguia in with either of those two champions now, it’s going to likely end badly for him.
Assuming Munguia beats Maciej Sulecki in April, De La Hoya needs to set up a rematch with Dennis Hogan so that he can show fans that he’s the better fighter.
Hogan clearly beat Munguia and made him look bad. By putting Munguia back in with Hogan, De La Hoya would be giving him a vote of confidence. Unfortunately, the way things look now, it looks like Oscar is putting Munguia in a cash-out situation by trying to set up a fight with Golovkin.
Back with Canelo was still with Golden Boy, there was a chance for Munguia to face him to get a big payday eventually, but that fight is no longer possible.
Now that Canelo is no longer with Golden Boy, he likely will never agree to fight Munguia.
You can never say never, obviously. If Munguia becomes a huge star, Canelo would obviously show interest in fighting him, but that might be the only way that match-up happens.
Boxing fans aren’t holding their collective breath waiting for Munguia to become a star in the sport.
Munguia to fight in April on DAZN
“We’re working on that,” said De La Hoya about Munguia’s next fight in April. “We actually have a call into DAZN as we speak to lock that in for Munguia for April.
“So we’re looking forward to that date [April 23/24]. Jaime Munguia is a star in the making, and he’s the next big Mexican champion,” said De La Hoya.
That’s going to be a risky fight for Munguia to take on the 31-year-old former two-time middleweight world title challenger Sulecki. Hopefully, for Munguia’s sake, Golden Boy knows what they’re doing in trying to put this fight together.
Sulecki is a step up from Dennis Hogan and several steps up from O’Sullivan, Allotey, and Tureano. If Sulecki puts it on Munguia, he might knock him out or give him a boxing lesson the way Hogan did.