Oscar De La Hoya believes there is a compelling — and more importantly, feasible — fight in the near offing for Jaime Munguia.
The head of Golden Boy said in a recent interview that his priority this year is to make sure Mexico’s Munguia is involved in a significant fight, and Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin, the Kazakh bruiser who holds two 160-pound titles, is apparently at the top of the Hall of Famer’s list.
De La Hoya said he has already “reached out” to Golvokin’s team about that matchup.
Munguia, a former titlist at 154, has been widely rebuked in boxing circles for taking on mostly soft touches in the past few years. The popular and entertaining fighter steamrolled his opponents last year, stopping D’Mitrius Ballard, Jimmy Kelly, and Gonzalo Gaston Coria all inside six rounds.
In the same period, Munguia and De La Hoya were excoriated by boxing fans after plans to face WBC titlist Jermall Charlo on a Showtime-produced main event fell apart at the 11th hour, because De La Hoya insisted late in negotiations that his network partner, DAZN, also be involved in the broadcasting.
“That’s a big possibility, a fight with Jaime Munguia and Triple G,” De La Hoya told The DAZN Boxing Show. “I think both guys have to prove themselves in a way. I think that fight would be perfect. I think that’s the fight to make. We’ve already reached out To Triple G’s people. I strongly feel that Jaime Munguia is ready for anybody.
“So that’s my goal for 2023, to make Jaime Munguia the best fighter possible and to get him to a world title,” De La Hoya added. “But first and foremost I want him to fight Triple G.”
Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs) himself called out Golovkin last year after defeating Coria.
Golovkin is coming off a points loss to rival Canelo Alvarez last September in a 168-pound undisputed title bout. A network free agent, Golovkin had previously been signed to DAZN, the subscription streaming service that currently counts De La Hoya’s Golden Boy as a key content partner. It is not clear if Golovkin has any intention of re-signing with DAZN, but a fight between him and Munguia would likely only be possible if DAZN can stream it.
Ironically, Munguia was a potential candidate to face Golovkin in the spring of 2018, when Golovkin was looking for a replacement for Alvarez after the Mexican superstar tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, however, did not clear Munguia, who was still something of a prospect at the time, as a suitable opponent for Golovkin.
In the same interview, De La Hoya admitted that making meaningful fights for Munguia has been a challenging task because many of the top opponents are aligned with De La Hoya's business rival, Premier Boxing Champions, the content partner of Showtime. The promoter, however, believes the upcoming showdown between PBC’s Gervonta “Tank” Davis and De La Hoya’s ace client Ryan Garcia may lead to a thawing in relations.
“It’s a little difficult to make fights with him (Munguia) for some reason because all the fighters that he can fight are with PBC,” De La Hoya said of Munguia. “And so what I’m optimistic about is making this Ryan Garcia fight with Tank, we can start working together and make the big fights happen.”
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