By Peter Lim
Since demolishing and dethroning caretaker 154-pound titleholder Saddam Ali in May, Jaime Munguia (31-0, 26 KOs) has been on a whirlwind fight schedule. In July, Munguia, 22, decisively outpointed former titleholder Liam Smith and less than two months later, he stopped Brandon Cook in three violent rounds. On Saturday, Munguia defends the WBO belt against Takeshi Inoue (13-0-1, 7 KOs) for his third title defense in six months at the Toyota Center in Houston.
“We came here well prepared and in good condition and I want to tell Inoue that the title will not go to Japan,” Munguia said through translator Gabriel Rivas. “It will stay with Mexico and it will stay with the people who follow me. I’m going to be champion for a while.”
The knock on Munguia is that, while his offense has proven quite devastating, there is much room for improvement in terms of defense.
“We’ve worked on it (defense),” Munguia said. “It’s been a process and I also felt like I’ve meshed well with the training team that I have, and we’ve been working well with all aspects of that.”
Munguia seems to be the odd man out in the 154-pound picture. In April, Jarett Hurd narrowly defeated Erislandy Lara to consolidate the IBF and WBA titles. Hurd has alluded to wanting to unify the championship but has rarely, if ever, mentioned Munguia by name. Tony Harrison snatched the WBC belt from Jermell Charlo in December via highly controversial decision and an immediate rematch has been ordered. Neither Harrison nor Charlo seems particularly interested in facing Munguia down the line, naming Hurd as their first-choice opponent instead.
But it might be a moot point if Munguia decides to bulk up to middleweight. The move might occur before the end of 2019, he said.
“It could be that I might have a chance to fight one of the other champions,” Munguia said, “but I don’t know if I’ll have that opportunity because I might be moving up to 160 pounds soon.”
The obvious blockbuster at middleweight for Munguia would be a showdown with fellow Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
“I think it could happen but it would have to happen at the correct time,” Munguia said. “It will be big but we’ll have to see what’s going on.”
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya, though, hopes Munguia will remain at 154 long enough to make a big splash in the division before moving up. That way, De La Hoya said, he will have more leverage to demand the big-money fights at 160.
“The idea is to unify the world titles,” De La Hoya said. “I believe by doing so, not only will his stock rise but it’ll make him a force to be reckoned with. I believe if he can take those world titles away from the other champions then he will be that much more respected when moving up to 160. The 154- and 160-pound divisions are the best divisions in boxing today, so it’s very important for him to unify and then move up to 160 where he will have many, many challenges.”
Munguia’s task at hand, though is to get past the unheralded and unknown Inoue (13-0-1, 7 KOs). Inoue, 29, has gone the 12-round distance only once in his career and all but one of his fights have been in Japan.
“I think the other side thinks that I am the underdog. I don’t feel like I’m the underdog. I actually feel like he’s the underdog,” Inoue said through translator Nobu Ikushima. “I have come here to bring the WBO belt back to Japan.”
Asked what his best attributes are, Inoue responded: “I think the physical strength that I have and my ability to fight inside and the skills I have there will win the fight.”
Until recently, Houston was home to the three other junior middleweight belts. Jermall Charlo held the IBF version before vacating to move up to 160 in 2017. Erislandy Lara owned the WBA title until he was dethroned by Hurd in April of 2018. And until a month ago, Jermell Charlo was the WBC titleholder.
De La Hoya said that the fact that Houston was where three big-name potential opponents resided did not factor into his decision to make it the venue for Munguia-Inoue, but added, it didn’t hurt.
“The primary purpose of staging the event here in Houston was because it’s such a wonderful fan base,” De La Hoya said. “Houston promotes and supports boxing in a big way. We’ve staged Canelo Alvarez here and had more than 45,000 people at the Minute Maid Park.”
“The idea to bring Jaime Munguia here was to introduce him to the Houston fans and hopefully stage a big fight with Jaime Munguia and one of the Charlo brothers here in Houston which will fill the Toyota Center without a problem.”
