Oscar De La Hoya said today on social media that he wants to make a fight between his fighter Jaime Munguia and WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez next.
De La Hoya says the former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) wants the match-up against the former two-time WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs).
Munguia taking this fight suggests that he’s given up on his hopes of getting fights against Canelo Alvarez & Gennadiy Golovkin by calling them out after beating B-level opposition.
Now, Munguia will try to earn the fight by knocking off the dangerous Benavidez. If Munguia can defeat Benavidez, Canelo won’t be able to ignore him.
While it may seem like a crazy fight for Munguia to make, given how he looked in his last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko on June 10th, it’ll be a massive payday for him to take on Benavdiez because that would be a PPV clash that will bring in a lot of buys.
For Munguia, who has failed to get the big names, Canelo Alvarez, Jermall Charlo & Gennadiy Golovkin to face him, Benavidez is the next best thing.
Even if Munguia loses, the money will be good, the experience could help him, and his popularity could increase if he’s competitive.
Awesome news @jaimemunguia15 is very interested in fighting @Benavidez300. Looking forward to starting discussions in what could possibly be fight of the year!
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) June 26, 2023
This won’t make Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn overjoyed because he wants Munguia for his fighter Edgar Berlanga next, as the New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent called out Jaime repeatedly last Saturday night after his twelve round unanimous decision win over Jason Quigley at the Hula Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The way Hearn talked after the fight, he wasn’t going to accept no for an answer for his plans to put a fight together between his recently signed Berlanga and Munguia.
Benavidez-Munguia is a good fight for both guys. It works well for Benavidez because it allows him to get David Morrell Jr off his back, and that’s someone that he doesn’t want to fight.
For Munguia, it works because Benavidez is a huge name, and the upside in facing him would be far better than if he were to agree to a fight against Berlanga, who many boxing fans view as a hype job, a manufactured fighter’ created by his former promoters with ultra-soft match-making against stiffs dragged into the ring to make him look good.
The PPV money that Munguia can make fighting Benavidez will be excellent, and it puts the winner in the catbird seat to face Canelo Alvarez in May 2024.
