Oscar De La Hoya has told Jaime Munguia that a “statement” victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko can lead to a sought-after fight with Jermall Charlo, Gennady Golovkin, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or David Benavidez.
The Mexican, on Saturday at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, fights Derevyanchenko in the knowledge that the Ukrainian has fought some of his divisional rivals but been stopped by none.
Munguia, at 26 11 years Derevyanchenko’s junior, also requires a nature of victory capable of transforming his career, which has largely unfolded outside of the elite.
“This fight is a very difficult fight for Munguia,” said De La Hoya, his promoter. “But Munguia has an opportunity to make a big statement. If he can stop Derevyanchenko or knock him out, it’ll put Jaime Munguia on everyone’s radar, and hopefully make these big fights happen – like Charlo, [David] Benavidez, and possibly even Canelo.
“Jaime Munguia having a spectacular outing against Derevyanchenko will put him on everybody’s radar, and hopefully it can make future fights much easier for us to make.
“The most realistic can be a Benavidez, at 168lbs. I strongly feel that Benavidez is the type of fighter – ‘cause I’ve met him several times; we’ve talked from fighter to fighter – who wants to fight anybody. He just wants to go out there and be in the ring and prove to himself, and give the fight fans some good fights. That’s all he wants to do. So I respect that – so a fight with him and Jaime Munguia would be a big fight.Would be entertaining. Would be the fight to be made.
“We’ve been trying to get a hold of [Gennady] Golovkin but we keep hearing that he’s retired, so we’re not really too sure. It’s not official, but we strongly feel that Jaime Munguia having a great outing against [former Golovkin opponent] Derevyanchenko can hopefully lure in a Triple G.
Golovkin has remained inactive since losing so convincingly to Alvarez, at super middleweight, in the third fight of their trilogy in September. Munguia’s attempts to increase his options have contributed to him more recently fighting at 168lbs, where Alvarez and Benavidez – widely considered Alvarez’s greatest threat – have long been established, and De La Hoya, once Alvarez’s promoter, believes that Munguia can yet succeed in one day securing an “all-Mexican war”.
“If there’s enough public pressure – if Jaime Munguia is beating the guys that Canelo doesn’t want to fight, like Benavidez; like [Jermall] Charlo – if Jaime can make a statement, fighting those guys and beating them and there’s public demand, that’s the fight to make,” he said. “Imagine an all-Mexican war. Civil war.
