Sergio Mora believes Jaime Munguia deserves to jump to the front of the line for a fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez next May, ahead of other fighters like David Benavidez.
Munguia is considered one of the three fighters that Canelo is considering for his fight in May, and he could get the spot because he is the most beatable.
Mora points out that it’s time for Golden Boy Promotions to “cash in” with the 27-year-old Munguia (42-0, 32 KOs), who has been fighting toiling away for ten years as a professional and is coming off a Fight of the Year type of battle against Sergiy Derevyanchenko last April in a bout that could have done either way.
Time to cash in Munguia
It’s believed that Golden Boy has carefully orchestrated Munguia’s entire career, matching exclusively weaker opposition for the sole purpose of a big cash-out fight against Canelo.
Even with the careful match-making that Golden Boy has done on Munguia’s behalf, he was fortunate to get decision wins over Dennis Hogan & Derevyanchenko, as were both fights he could have lost.
Munguia still needs to win his fight against John Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) on January 27th to have a chance to fight Canelo in May. The Munguia-Ryder fight will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I have no problem with that. Munguia, they’ve been holding him off for a Canelo fight,” said Sergio Mora to Fight Hub TV, reacting to Jaime Munguia potentially being the next opponent for Canelo Alvarez in May 2024.
“It’s time to cash in if you’re Golden Boy Promotions and Munguia, the performance he put in against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, a ‘Fight of the Year, and another potential ‘Fight of the Year’ with John Ryder coming up. If he gets past that, I think he deserves a cash out against Canelo. Why not?”
Canelo vs. Munguia = likely PPV disaster
The thing that Mora isn’t mentioning is that fans in North America would still need to purchase the Canelo vs. Munguia fight on PPV for it to be profitable for PBC to earn their money back.
They’re paying Canelo a lot of money, and they’re likely not going to make a profit if they stick a fight between him and Munguia on Amazon Prime Video PPV. If you’re PBC, you won’t want to use Munguia ANY of Canelo’s remaining two fights of his contract in 2024.
They won’t get value for their money if Munguia is trotted out as Canelo’s opponent because boxing fans in the U.S. weren’t born yesterday. They know Munguia is flawed and nowhere near the top of the food chain at 168.
This fight likely won’t do well on PPV. Maybe it’ll sell with Mexican fans in that country, but the PPV buys are generated in the U.S., and fans don’t want to see Canelo fight a fighter with an inflated resume like Munguia.
If it’s free, that’s one thing, but asking fans to pay $70+ to watch Canelo beat up Munguia is asking for trouble. This event could bring in worse PPV numbers than the reported 50K buys from the Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis event on December 9th.
“I expected more from [Demetrius] Andrade, but we got a new ‘Mexican Monster,'” said Mora when asked about his thoughts on WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez stopping Demetrius Andrade in the sixth round on November 25th.
If Mora had watched Andrade’s fight with journeyman Demond Nicholson last January, he wouldn’t have been surprised at how poorly he performed against Benavidez. Andrade looked old & washed against Nicholson.
That fight showed that he needs to consider retirement. Benavidez and his management carefully picked Andrade from the pile, selecting an easy mark to make him look good rather than fighting someone who could potentially beat him in David Morrell or Dmitry Bivol.
Munguia & Benavidez share a lot in common with how their handlers have matched them.
Will Benavidez get Canelo fight in 2024?
“When you see Benavidez mowing them down like that, it’s impressive. Andrade has been impressing us for a long time as a pure boxer, but there was a time when he had to fight Benavidez, and he couldn’t do it,” said Mora.
“All that Olympic accolades [15 years ago in 2008], a two-division champion, he couldn’t fight off a real monster when it came down to it,” said Mora about the 35-year-old Andrade, who looked too small to defeat the younger fighter, Benavidez.
Andrade fought in the Olympics fifteen years ago, so it doesn’t matter what accolades he achieved. It might as well have been a lifetime ago.
If it were four or five years ago that Andrade fought in the Olympics, it would mean something, but not when it’s fifteen years, and you’re fighting in your third weight division after a poor performance in your first fight in that weight class.
“I do favor Benavidez. He has the faster hands; he’s the naturally bigger puncher, bigger fighter, and longer reach. I’m going to favor him, especially with all the wars Canelo has had. 50+ fights.
“I would love to see it, I would love to see that fight,” said Mora when asked about his thoughts on a clash between undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez if it happens in 2024.
