By Jack Tiernan: Jaime Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs) took advantage of the spotlight on him last Saturday night to call out WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo immediately after his fifth-round KO win over fringe contender Jimmy Kelly (26-3, 10 KOs) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Munguia said he wants the unbeaten Jermall Charlo to show courage and stop using his adviser Al Haymon as someone to hide behind.
Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) fights on a different network than Munguia on Showtime, which is reason enough to make it an undoable match-up.
Moreover, Jermall is in the running for a massive payday fight against Canelo Alvarez next year, and he’s not going to foolishly put that match at risk by taking on the heavy-handed Munguia in 2022.
It wouldn’t be an intelligent move for Charlo to take the fight with the young 25-year-old Golden Boy star Munguia, and it has no realistic chance of happening.
“I’m ready for any challenge. “I think this fight helped me out a lot. There are a lot of people who are supporting me. I’m ready to go back to 160 to fight for a world title or move to 168,” said Munguia after his fight against Jimmy Kelly last Saturday night.
“I want to say what Oscar [De La Hoya] said for Charlo to grow some balls and stop hiding behind [Al] Haymon. I think it would be great for boxing. We hope we can get a big fight by the end of the year.”
As we saw last Saturday night, Munguia is like a dangerous buried landmine unearthed after eighty years but still explosive and deadly.
The 29-year-old Kelly outboxed Munguia through the first four rounds, making him look like ham & egger, but in the fifth round, the Mexican power-puncher nailed him with a monstrous left hook to put him down.
Essentially, the fight was over after the first knockdown because Kelly was hurt from the shot and easy prey for Munguia afterward.
Immediately after dropping Kelly, Munguia nailed him with a right uppercut to put him down for a second time. Kelly got up and looked unhurt, moving around the ring, darting in & out, showing off his unique skills.
However, Munguia trapped Kelly in the corner and unloaded a blizzard of punches that forced him to go down for the third time.
When Kelly got back up, referee Thomas Taylor waved it off after taking a close look at the face of the British fighter. The time of the stoppage was 2:57 of the fifth.
“As a fighter, I’m going to keep asking for the fight,” said Munguia about his desire to fight Jermall Charlo. “Unfortunately, the fight didn’t happen because of a broadcast issue, not a promotional one. I hope by the end of the year the fight happens.”
It might be better for Munguia to move up to 168 because he’s not going to get the fight with Jermall Charlo in 2022 and wasting his life at 160.
