By Craig Daly: Oscar De La Hoya is chomping at the bit to match unbeaten but still untested Jaime Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs) against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) this summer in a catchweight fight at 170 pounds in June or July on DAZN.
Perhaps tired of the criticism leveled at the 26-year-old Munguia by boxing fans for his paper-thin resume and his stunted career, De La Hoya is ready to throw him in the deep end in a sink-or-swim situation against Bivol and see if he can stay afloat.
If things work well, Munguia will emerge victorious and capture the WBA 175-lb belt from Bivol. But even if Munguia loses, if he gives Munguia problems and finishes on his feet, it would be a moral victory for the Mexican native, giving De La Hoya the chance to brag.
De La Hoya: Munguia “ready for anybody”
Considering what Bivol did to another one of De La Hoya’s unbeaten fighters, Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, last November in Abu Dhabi, Oscar might want to re-think the idea of matching Munguia against the unbeaten Dmitry.
De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV that he would “love” to have Munguia battle Bivol in the summer in June or July, and he feels he’s “ready for anybody” at middleweight, super-middleweight or a 170-lb catchweight.”
Bivol has two important fights against Artur Beterbiev and Canelo Alvarez this year, and it’s unknown if he’d be interested in squeezing a third match in 2023 against Munguia.
Munguia has been fighting dreadful opposition since moving up to 160 in 2020, and boxing fans have been greatly disappointed with the way he’s twice turned down title shots against Demetrius Andrade and Janibek Alimkhanuly.
Most contenders would do anything to get a world title shot opportunity, yet Munguia turns them down left & right, which mirrors the career of another Golden Boy fighter, Ryan Garcia, who has had his fair shape of title chances, but he turned his back on them.
Munguia’s opposition since moving up to 160:
- Gabe Rosado
- Gary O’Sullivan
- Gonzalo Gaston Coria
- Jimmy Kelly
- D’Mitrius Ballard
- Tureano Johnson
- Kamil Szeremeta
Many boxing fans believe De La Hoya has been purposefully holding Munguia back to get him a cash-out fight against Canelo Alvarez.
If that’s what De La Hoya has been waiting on, he’s wasted his time because Canelo has already said he won’t fight Mexican fighters, which rules out Jaime getting a shot.
