By Jake Donovan

There remains work to be done in confirming Jaime Munguia’s next title fight.

Reports have swirled of the unbeaten Tijuana (Mex.) bred super welterweight commanding the main event slot for a discussed September 14 DAZN-streamed card at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. The suggested challenger is Ghana’s Patrick Allotey (40-3, 30KOs), with several outlets claiming the fight is a done deal.

However, BoxingScene.com has learned there remains several roadblocks—namely the proposed fight not making its way through the proper channels.

“At this moment, we don’t have any request from Munguia’s team,” Francisco ‘Paco’ Valcárcel, president of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) confirmed to BoxingScene.com regarding such a title fight.

Munguia (33-0, 26KOs) has already enjoyed five title fights, all coming in an 11-month span beginning with his one-sided stoppage win over Sadam Ali to claim the WBO 154-pound title last May. Four defenses have followed, including a disputed 12-round nod over mandatory challenger Dennis Hogan this past April in Monterrey, Mexico.    

With the mandatory out the way—along with Hogan’s ultimately failed protest in efforts to have the verdict overturned or secure an immediate rematch—came the decision to next make an optional defense. The hope was for a superfight versus World middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or former titlist Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin.

Neither option panned out, but Alvarez passing on the opportunity to fight on Sept. 14—the Saturday preceding Mexican Independence Day—opened the door for Munguia to occupy the slot. Efforts to secure a showdown with former two-division titlist Jessie Vargas ultimately hit a wall, which led to a rumored title defense versus WBO #12 ranked Allotey.

In theory, Munguia would be following sanctioning body rules in targeting a fight with a ranked contender. Of course, the sanctioning body would need to be in on such news.

In addition to that wrinkle, there remains the overlooked matter of Allotey’s next scheduled fight. The 30-year old Ghanaian—who has won five straight at home but is just 1-3 overall on the road—is due to headline a show in his hometown this Saturday, defending a WBO regional title versus Congo’s Eric Kapia at Accra Sports Stadium’s D G Hathiramani Sports Hall.

News of the show circulated as recently as Thursday morning through Ghana outlets. 

Interestingly, the show also includes another boxer whose name has been floated for a September fight.

Unbeaten heavyweight Ebenzer Tetteh (19-0, 16KOs) has been named as the suggested opponent for a Sept. 21 clash versus England’s Daniel Dubois, provided the local knockout artist escapes victorious and unscathed versus Kenya’s Morris Okolla (11-3, 9KOs).

Whereas there remains a direct pipeline for that fight to happen, clearance for Allotey to enter a title fight remains far more problematic—and one that can’t move forward at least until he wins on Saturday, escapes without injury and then is approved by the WBO as a formidable opponent.

Also suggested for the yet-to-be-announced show—which Golden Boy has yet to confirm, nor offer comment on any progress—is a lightweight bout between unbeaten Ryan Garcia, who just turned 21 on Thursday, and Philadelphia’s Avery Sparrow.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox