By Allan Fox: Unbeaten former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs) weighed in at 160 pounds on Friday for his important 12 round main event on DAZN against the highly experienced former two-time world title challenger Gabe Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs).
(Photo credit: Kevin Estrada / Golden Boy Promotions)
Rosado weighed slightly less at 159.4 lbs, but he looked bigger than Munguia, oddly enough. The two will be fighting in a Golden Boy Promotions at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Rosado is coming off a big win over Bektemir Melikuziev last June, and he’s going to be trying to get a similar stunning victory on Saturday against Munguia.
Ranked #1 WBC, #1 WBO, Munguia is in a position to get a title shot against Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade in 2022. However, the champion that Munguia appears to be targeting is Gennadiy Golovkin for his IBF belt.
Unfortunately for Munguia, he’s not ranked high with the IBF, so he’ll need Golovkin to give him a title shot as a voluntary challenger. If Golovkin does make that move, he’ll do it later on down the line.
Right now, Golovkin isn’t taking any chances with risky fights because he’s trying to get a big-money trilogy fight with Canelo in 2022.
Until Golovkin gets that fight, he’s not going to take a risky match with someone like Munguia. It’s likely that even if Golovkin gets the trilogy match with Canelo and loses, he’ll still hold out hope for a fourth fight.
Munguia is better off going in the direction of WBC champion Jermall Charlo or WBO champion Demetrius Andrade.
De La Hoya expects Munguia – Rosado to clash
“When you have a fighter like Rosado from Puerto Rico and a fighter like Munguia, it’s obvious the styles are going to clash,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya to Fighthype.
“It’s going to be a great fight, but the fact that you have the pride behind it, Mexico vs. Puerto Rico, they tend to fight even harder,” said De La Hoya.
“So, styles are going to clash. I know boxing, and I’m a promoter that has been in the ring, and I’m probably the only promoters that have been in the ring. So I know the styles, and I know what this fight is going to be all about.
“I love the way he did it. He didn’t steamroll before the knockout obviously of Plant,” said De La Hoya on Canelo Alvarez’s recent 11th round knockout win over Caleb Plant. “I was very impressed with Plant, but Canelo is the pound-for-pound champion of the world.
“What he did that night was history, and I’m very proud of him and very happy for him,” said De La Hoya of Canelo. “In boxing, there’s always competition, there’s always matches you can make,” said Oscar when told that Canelo no longer has competition.
Oscar is willing to work with Canelo
“There are fighters like Benavidez; there are fighters like the Charlos,” said De La Hoya. “You know, guys that can possibly go up against Canelo, but Canelo keeps knocking them out, so we’ll see.
“We’re the best that we do, and the doors are always open on our end,” said De La Hoya about his willingness to work with Canelo.
“We’re going to have possible future opponents that are going to be very interested to see what happens. But look, no hard feelings, this is boxing, and this is the fight game. My heart and my door are always wide open.
“It’s going to be an exciting end of the year for us, and I can’t wait for the start of next year. I got a few tricks up my sleeves, and I’m going to be very excited about it,” said De La Hoya.
