JAIME MUNGUIA will return to the ring on September 20 but with a new promoter in his corner.
The surprise news, revealed by ESPN, sees the Mexican super-middleweight join forces with Top Rank in a multi-fight co-promotional deal with Zanfer severing ties with Golden Boy Promotions.
Munguia, who lost last time out to compatriot and undisputed 168lbs champion Canelo Alvarez, will reportedly face Erik Bazinyan on September 20. And in another change to his team the 27-year-old will no longer be trained by Freddie Roach, instead he will reunite with trainer and former four-weight world champion Erik Morales.
The move will come as a huge blow to Golden Boy Promotions and their promoter Oscar De La Hoya who have worked with Munguia since his first world title fight in May 2018. That fourth-round stoppage win against Sadam Ali gave Munguia the WBO super-welterweight championship, his only world title to date in a career which saw him campaign at middleweight between 2020 and 2022.
Munguia’s other career highlights came in a win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko 13 months ago in a barn burner of a fight. The Tijuana boxer followed that up by beating John Ryder in nine rounds in January.
His sole defeat came in May when the all-Mexican clash with Canelo went the way of the undisputed champion by unanimous decision which saw Munguia down in round four.
Top Rank made another super-middleweight move earlier in the year when they signed a co-promotional deal with leading contender Christian Mbilli. The Cameroon-born Frenchman stopped Britain’s Mark Heffron in one round in May and returns to the ring on August 17 against Derevyanchenko. Should Mbilli and Munguia come through their next tests then it’s feasible that we may see them collide at the end of 2024 or sometime in 2025.
