By Miguel Rivera

The fortune of Mexican junior middleweight Jaime Munguia has changed for the better.

A few short weeks ago, he was being considered as the replacement opponent for Canelo Alvarez, who due to a positive drug test was forced to withdraw from a planned rematch with unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin on May 5.

But the local commissions rejected the idea of that bout, because they felt Munguia was too inexperienced for such a contest and he was also coming up in weight.

Eventually, Team Golovkin took a pass on Munguia and finalized a deal with Vanes Martirosyan.

Earlier today, it was officially announced that Munguia will challenge World Boxing Organization (WBO) super welterweight champion, Saddam Ali, on May 12 in Verona , NY.

HBO will televise the fight.

Munguia is replacing mandatory challenger Liam Smith, who withdrew less than a week ago with an illness.

Ali is making his first defense after capturing the world title last December in Madison Square Garden with a big upset win over Miguel Cotto.

This will also be Ali's second contest in the junior middleweight division. The United States Olympian will be a big favorite in the fight.

Munguia, 21 years old and born in Tijuana, Mexico, is undefeated with a record of 28-0 with 24 knockouts, while Ali has a record of 26-1 and 14 knockouts.

The Mexican boxer has trained for weeks in California with Robert Alcázar, who was coach of Oscar de la Hoya, Jessie Vargas, Edwin "Inca" Valero and Jose "Chon" Zepeda and although he did not finalize the opportunity for the shot against Golovkin, the Tijuana native did not stop training.

In the HBO televised co-feature of the card, Rey Vargas will defend the WBO bantamweight title against Azat Hovhannisyan.