Oscar De La Hoya wants to make Jaime Munguia vs David Benavidez.
Munguia is putting his undefeated record on the line when he boxes Canelo Alvarez on May 4. Alvarez is the Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion, meaning a Munguia win makes him a PPV superstar. Before the fight was made, there was talk of Canelo fighting Benavidez. The Mexican Monster has been the WBC Interim Super Middleweight Champion for over two years.
The fight never got made, with both sides pointing the finger at each other. Canelo then demanded $150-200 million to make that fight. De La Hoya felt this was a way for the Mexican to avoid the fight by pricing himself out. Benavidez has moved on, as he will box Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC Interim Light Heavyweight Title on June 15.
A win will make Benavidez mandatory for the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol. Beterbiev and Bivol box on June 1 for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship. If Canelo is not keen on fighting Benavidez, De La Hoya was clear that Munguia wanted to step up.
Benavidez vs Munguia
“Jaime will be the next guy. He’ll be the man. It’ll be the passing of the torch [when he beats Alvarez]. We’ve had Canelo for some time, and he’s in the fourth quarter of his career. Now is the time for the new blood and a new fighter to take the reins,” De La Hoya stated
“If both of us keep winning and we both keep doing our thing, it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Benavidez would be a great fight. I’m here to fight against the best. I see a lot of people are happy to see me fight against Canelo. Whatever is going on [between Alvarez and] David Benavidez, I’m not aware of it, and I don’t know – and I honestly don’t care. I am focused on myself and preparing for my fight,” Munguia added
To get that fight, Munguia will have to do something very rare. Canelo has only lost two bouts. The first was against Floyd Mayweather, while the other was against Bivol. Both losses were decisions, as Canelo has never been stopped. Munguia is known for being a KO artist, with 34 of his 43 wins coming by way of knockout. But if Munguia cannot stop Canelo, he will be in for a tough night.
Munguia vs Canelo
Alvarez eventually breaks down his opponents before stopping them late. Caleb Plant tried to outbox Canelo, but it was stopped in the later rounds. While Munguia is the fresher fighter, does he have experience on the biggest stage? He is coming off the best win of his career against John Ryder.
Munguia dropped the Brit four times before stopping him in round nine. Ryder then retired from the sport, as Munguia performed better than Canelo had done against the Brit. Ryder managed to last the distance with Canelo, showing Munguia does have power. But to beat Canelo, Munguia must put on a perfect performance.
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