It feels like a lifetime ago when a 21-year-old Jaime Munguia was universally praised for openly accepting a showdown against Gennadiy Golovkin. Although their clash fell by the wayside, Munguia quickly pivoted and immediately went on to win a junior middleweight title. The days of Munguia being viewed as an offensive dynamo with a ton of potential, however, are somewhat over.

Of course, his firepower has allowed the now 26-year-old to remain undefeated through 41 pro fights but his level of opposition, by and large, has been chastised and categorized as tenuous. Nevertheless, the Mexican native is hoping to win back fans with what many would describe as his most difficult test.

On June 10th, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, a multiple-time title challenger, will square off with the undefeated former champion. A win, naturally, isn’t guaranteed but as long as everything goes according to plan, Munguia is hoping to lure some of the super middleweight division’s elite into the ring.

“If things are well, I want big names like (Jermall) Charlo, (David) Benavidez, Gennadiy Golovkin would be a huge fight to end the year,” said Munguia to FightHype.com recently.

Placing Charlo and Golovkin on his hitlist doesn't come as a surprise, but Benavidez is a newly named target. The current WBC interim titlist has begged and pleaded with the rest of his super middleweights to step up and give him a difficult fight. On March 25th, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Caleb Plant happily accepted Benavidez's brazen challenge.

With a roaring crowd standing on their feet for the majority of their clash, Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) gave them their money’s worth before ultimately picking up a close but clear unanimous decision victory. His win, in the eyes of many, has solidified Benavidez as the division’s leading man, despite Canelo Alvarez holding all four major world titles.

Benavidez’s lofty ranking is now something that Munguia craves for himself. While he’s confident, Munguia acknowledges that a showdown between them would be incredible. Sitting back and fantasizing about their clash now, however, isn’t in Munguia's best interest. But, as long as Derevyanchenko’s challenge is turned back successfully, the 26-year-old will be more than willing to entertain a future clash with his fellow countrymen.

“Definitely Benavidez would be the most important fight in my career. It would be a huge, huge fight. Hopefully, after Derevyanchenko we can talk about it.”