Jaime Munguia vs. Gonzalo Gaston Coria this Saturday, Nov.19th, live on DAZN

By Boxing News - 11/14/2022 - Comments

By Brian Webber: Unbeaten middleweight contender Jaime Munguia will be fighting this Saturday night against Gonzalo Gaston Coria in the 10-round main event live on DAZN on November 19th at Astros Arena, in Guadalajara, Mexico. The start time of the event is 7:00 p.m. ET / midnight BST.

The unbeaten #1 WBO, #2 WBC, #3 IBF, and #4 WBA Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs) is taking a stay-busy fight against the Argentinian Coria (21-5, 8 KOs).

It’s unclear what Munguia’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are waiting for by delaying his title shot at middleweight. While Munguia is staying active with his career, it’s disappointing that he’s not being stepped up against quality opposition.

Many boxing fans believe that Munguia is being intentionally held back by his management until the division clears out, with Gennadiy Golovkin retiring and Jermall Charlo aging or stagnating due to inactivity.

The former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia has been fighting at 160 for the last two years since 2020, and he’s had opportunities to fight for belts against former WBO champion Demetrius Andrade and WBC champ Jermall Charlo.

Canelo Alvarez has never shown any interest in fighting Munguia because that would have been a good cash-out for Jaime.

Munguia would likely jump at the chance to fight the 40-year-old IBF/WBA champion Gennadiy Golovkin, but that fight will never happen.

Golovkin is too feeble at this stage of his career to offer Munguia a voluntary title shot, and he’s not ranked high enough with the IBF or WBA to force a fight against GGG.

Munguia’s recent wins at middleweight:

  • Jimmy ‘Kilrain’Kelly
  • D’Mitrius Ballard
  • Gabriel Rosado
  • Kamil Szeremeta
  • Tureano Johnson
  • Gary O’Sullivan

If Munguia waits too long before being stepped up, the younger crop of middleweights could come along and grab the 160-lb belts and ruin his chances of picking up a title.

“Everyone has been anxiously waiting for Jaime Munguia’s return to the ring,” said Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya. “We are excited for him to put on a show for all his fans live in Mexico and worldwide on DAZN so he can end the year with a bang and start 2023 hungrier than ever.”

Munguia is ranked high enough to challenge WBO champ Janibek Alimkhanuly, but the Kazakh is too seasoned for Golden Boy to let their guy challenge him for his belt. It would be a good fight, though, if Munguia did fight Janibek, and he could get the title shot right away.

Munguia’s best opponent to date is Liam Smith, and that was four years ago in 2018. Instead of being moved up, Munguia has arguably been kept at a lower level and wasting his potential against beatable opposition.