Just three hundred and sixty-five days in the past, Jaime Munguia was rejected as a substitute for Canelo Alvarez to stand for Gennadiy Golovkin. Now, the Mexican is making his 5th identity protection and is geared up to inject himself into the communication as certainly one of boxing’s elite talents. CARSON, Calif. — Jamie Munguia commonly wears a large smile on his face at some stage in fight week for his fans. He enjoys playing on a show for them, and the soon-to-be 23-12 months-old is thrilled at each opportunity to show off his expertise inside a boxing ring.
But because the WBO junior middleweight champion enters the room for the fighter meetings ahead of what’s going to be his final fight at 154 kilos against Patrick Allotey (forty-three, 30 KOs), Munguia isn’t smiling. Well, he’s attempting. But it’s miles obvious that this specific weight reduction has taken a toll on him. He shakes hands with absolutely everyone in the room, after which he drops right into a chair. For a moment, he rests his head on the desk and exhales. “I’m worn out,” he says via a translator. “But that’s why I’m transferring up to 160 kilos.”
He’s the epitome of a man who lets his arms do the talking — this precise week, Munguia has stated very little. He’s centered on his opponent as he’ll be headlining a DAZN card on Mexican Independence Day weekend at the Dignity Health Sports Park. If he comes out triumphant, it is going to be his 5th defense of the WBO identity. And then it’s on to bigger and higher things in a division that homes Gennadiy Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez, Demetrius Andrade, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and plenty of others. It’s splendid to suppose wherein Munguia was only a little over 12 months in the past.
Back in April of 2018, Munguia was rejected by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as a late substitute to stand for Golovkin while Alvarez was pulled from the card for the notorious “tainted meat” fiasco that ended in a failed drug takes a look at. Munguia, even though undefeated, had yet to face anybody remotely near the quality of GGG, and the NSAC prevented the Mexican from stepping into the ring with the then-undefeated Golovkin. One 12 months later, Munguia is on the cusp of being a valid challenger to Golovkin and relaxing the middleweight division.
After being rejected as an opponent for GGG, Munguia went on a tear with a chain of awesome performances against Sadam Ali (TKO four), Liam Smith (UD 12), Brandon Cook (TKO three), and Takeshi Inoue (UD 12). It looked as if Munguia turned to prove his worth as one of the brightest up-and-coming competitors in boxing. Maybe the NSAC was wrong in their evaluation, in any case. Maybe not. Munguia’s fourth identity defense faced Dennis Hogan in Monterrey, Mexico, on April thirteen. With Munguia’s role, it was anticipated that Hogan would be every other checkmark to add to his portfolio.
It turns out that wasn’t the case. Hogan gave Munguia hell for 12 rounds and appeared to have performed sufficiently to win the fight, but Munguia managed to escape with a draw, and his undefeated record was nevertheless intact. The instant response was that the young Mexican was exposed and wasn’t yet worthy of being considered in the top echelon of competition. The very difficulty that has Munguia slumped over in his chair is what almost spelled his death five months ago. “I got a touch bit tired,” Munguia stated. “The problems being at 154, that can be a problem.”
“I desired to leave a good legacy because the champion at 154 pounds before I fought as much as an assignment for a title at one hundred sixty,” Munguia stated. He also teased that it could be his last combat as a junior middleweight. Yet, here he is. Perhaps the taste of his preceding overall performance needed to be rinsed out, and Allotey may be the suitable palate cleanser. The Ghana-born fighter is tough but hasn’t proven to be a great deal of danger. He has strong knockout energy but hasn’t completed properly outdoor of his domestic United States.
“He’s a truely sturdy and proper opponent,” Munguia said. “I recognize his movements properly, and he has 30 knockouts. I don’t recognize an excessive amount of else about him because there aren’t lots on the net. But it looks as if he’s quite a sturdy opponent.” One remaining name protection as he includes his home country’s hues into the boxing ring on arguably the largest Mexican vacation for combat enthusiasts, turned into certainly something Munguia couldn’t miss.
Munguia is sincerely proud of the opportunity to be the headliner and flashes that smile when he discusses his grandmother being in attendance on Saturday night. However, with that extraordinary obligation comes the pressure to perform, and Munguia has made some changes heading into his fight with Allotey. With Canelo moving off the date and into a Nov. 2 fight with Sergey Kovalev, someone had to represent Mexicans across the globe, specifically now that budding superstar Ryan Garcia is no longer competing due to his opponent being arrested for an outstanding warrant the day of the weigh-in.
