By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Oscar De La Hoya wants the WBC middleweight title held by inactive champion Jermall Charlo to be stripped from him and made available for the June 10th fight between Golden Boy-promoted fighter Jaime Munguia and Sergiy Derevyanchenko on DAZN at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
(Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy Promotions)
De La Hoya is upset that the WBC has allowed Charlo to sit inactive for two years, not making any defenses due to injury and personal problems.
Oscar feels that the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman should strip the 32-year-old Charlo, who hasn’t fought since 2021, and allow their 160-lb title to be at stake for the Munguia-Derevyanchenko clash next month. Sulaiman said this on Monday on Twitter about Jermall Charlo:
“Charlo was going to fight Sulecki and got hurt. WBC ordered interim title, and [Carlos] Adames was crowned. Charlo fell into a serious episode of mental health problems and we are in no way going to turn our backs on him. He is about to return to the ring.”
It’s unclear why De La Hoya cares about the WBC middleweight title because Munguia (41-0, 32 KOs) says that he’ll only fight once at 160, and then he’ll move up to 168. His fight with Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) will be at 168, not 160.
The fight that De La Hoya wants for the 26-year-old Munguia is against Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion. That’s why Munguia is moving up to 168. The 160-lb weight class is now dead, with no money fights available now that 41-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin has become inactive.
“The bottom line is we’ve always wanted to pursue the very best fights. For some reason, the WBC at 160 pounds has been held by [Jermall] Charlo for two years,” said De La Hoya at the recent Munguia vs. Derevyanchenko kickoff press conference for their June 10th fight on DAZN.
“I don’t understand why, but for two years, we felt that Derevyanchenko vs. Jaime Munguia should be for the [WBC middleweight] title or to fight for the #1 position [currently held by Gennadiy Golovkin in the World Boxing Council’s ranking at 160].
“It didn’t happen for some reason. [WBC president] Mauricio Sulaiman didn’t make that happen. So we’re now fighting at 168 with Munguia and Derevyanchenko. If that fight was ordered, they would be fighting at 160. Let’s make that clear.
“If it was going to be for the title and they [WBC] were going to make it for the title, he would chop off an arm to make 160. That’s how important the titles are. Jaime Munguia is a warrior. He will fight with anybody,” said De La Hoya.
“If the opportunity is there, I will make 160 one more time for the people,” said Munguia.
