Jaime Munguia set to face stay-busy opponent with eye on bigger opportunities
Jaime Munguia has been playing a perpetual waiting game. And it hasn’t been fun.
The unbeaten middleweight contender has been touted by many as a star-in-the-making but he hasn’t had the opportunity to take that step, as he continues to pursue a career-changing matchup three years after transitioning from 154-pounds to 160.
Munguia seemed to be on track to face John Ryder, the conqueror of Daniel Jacobs, last month in what would’ve been his most important fight in some time but even that fell through.
The 26-year-old has to settle for a meeting with relative unknown Gonzalo Coria on Saturday in Guadalajara, Mexico (DAZN). It will be his second fight in his native country in his last three outings.
“Yes, sometimes it’s a bit frustrating when they’re changing the opponent, when they’re changing the date,” Munguia told DAZN. “It can be uncomfortable and demotivating, but we have to keep working. You can’t stop the world, you can’t close off the world because of these things.
“So we have to keep working, we have to keep giving and keep waiting for that opportunity.”
Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs) is saying the right things about his upcoming fight, insisting he isn’t looking past Coria (21-5, 8 KOs), a southpaw from Argentina. He described Coria as “a lot of risk and little to gain.”
However, he acknowledges that his bigger goal is to lure 160-pound titleholder Gennadiy Golovkin into the ring for what would be that break-through opportunity.
Triple-G is coming off a solid performance in his third fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez in September. He lost a unanimous decision but demonstrated that he can still fight at 40 years old. And, of course, he remains one of the biggest names in the sport.
The handlers of Munguia and Golovkin have been in contact but have yet to produce anything of substance. Another option attractive to Munguia is another 160-pound titleholder, Jermall Charlo, but he’s more interested in the Kazakh.
He was asked specifically whether he remains interested in the fight with Golovkin.
“Yes, I think so,” he said. “Without a doubt the last fight he had with Canelo, Triple-G made it clear that he is still a great fighter, that he is still strong, that he is still valid. He gave a great fight with Canelo, and I think he and I could have a great fight.
“Besides, he is the champion, one of the champions at 160 pounds, and if it’s with him I would like to fight for the world championship.”
For now, there is only Coria.
“I always prepare in the best way,” Munguia said. “The truth is that this [second fight in Mexico] was not foreseen. We had planned to fight John Ryder, who had just beaten Jacobs, in what I think was a great fight. But for one reason or another it didn’t happen.
“We’re going to try to make the best of this fight, keep learning, keep working for when the expected fight comes.”
