By Matt Lieberman: Jaime Munguia (41-0, 32 KOs) believes he can score a knockout of Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) tonight to send him down to his fourth defeat in his last five fights.
Surprisingly, this is a step up for Munguia from the opposition he’s been fighting in the last five years since his win over Liam Smith in 2018.
Munguia-Derevyanchenko will meet in the 12-round main event at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. The event will be shown live on DAZN at 8:00 p.m. ET.
This fight has surprisingly very little buzz from the boxing public, which is a sign that Golden Boy made the mistake of matching Munguia against a fighter with a 1-3 record in his last four fights.
For Munguia to get attention for his fights, he needs to stop turning down fights against guys like Carlos Adames, Janibek Alimkhanuly, and Demetrius Andrade.
At today’s final press conference, the 6’0″ Munguia towered over the 5’9″ Derevyanchenko, looking like he belonged in a different weight class. Saturday’s fight will be at 168, a division Munguia says he’d like to stay unless an opportunity comes available at 160.
Derevyanchenko has suffered recent losses to Carlos Adames, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Jermall Charlo.
The purpose of Munguia moving to 168 is pretty obvious. He’s angling to try and get a fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
However, it’s doubtful that Canelo will ever agree to fight Munguia because he might not want to do his former promoters at Golden Boy any favors. For the record, Munguia says he wants Jermall Charlo or David Benavidez, but it’s obviously Canelo and Gennadiy Golovkin that he really wants.
Munguia after Mayweather’s record?
Some boxing fans feel Golden Boy is purposefully matching the 41-0 Munguia soft to try and break Floyd Mayweather Jr’s 50-0 record, as he’s fought much older past their best fighters during his ten-year career.
Munguia could break Mayweeather’s 50-0 record within four years, possibly sooner if he averages three fights a year. It would be interesting to see how Mayweather would react at seeing his record eclipsed by Munguia.
Floyd might not like it, but he received criticism for breaking Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record against UFC fighter Conor McGregor, who making his pro debut in boxing.
“We’ve been looking for that fight years ago. We don’t know exactly what’s happening with him. He is about two years and a half not entering the ring, and hopefully, someday, it’s going to
happen,” said Jaime Munguia to Fighthype when asked about whether he thinks he’ll eventually fight WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
“A Benavidez fight would be huge; it would be a great accomplishment for me. Benavidez is a really strong and tough guy, but I feel I’m capable of showing him that I’m really strong. It’ll be a great fight,” said Munguia when asked about David Benavidez.
“He’s a very good fighter. He always performs well, and definitely, for this fight, he’s doing the camp of his life,” said Munguia about Sergiy Derevyanchenko. “He’s coming for me, but in the same way, I’m preparing for him.
“Guys like [Daniel] Jacobs put him down, and I feel capable of knocking him out. I feel really powerful at 168, so let’s see. In some ways, being at 168 is great for me. It’s a great weight. I think I’m better at 168, but if something is interesting at 160, I’m definitely going for it,” said Munguia.
