Jaime Munguia seeks voluntary title defense against Keiber Gonzalez

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Remember how, in my content mill piece about the WBA ordering Jaime Munguia to fight long-overdue mandatory challenger Bektemir Melikuziev, Chris Mannix mentioned how Munguia was looking to fight a scrub his next time out? Of course you do, you all treat my articles like sacred texts and memorize them in their entirety, but I felt it necessary to bring it up for the newcomers. Anyway, Jaime’s still trying it, as Salvador Rodriguez reports that he’s negotiating a step-aside agreement with “Bek the Bully” in favor of fighting Keiber Gonzalez first. This would presumably land on the still-undercard-free Canelo show in three weeks. Munguia’s (46-2, 35 KO) faced some wretched opposition in the past, but Venezuela’s Gonzalez (23-1, 20 KO) is a standout, easily his worst since at least his 2022 wipeout of Gonzalo Gaston Coria. Ranked a very generous no. 106 by BoxRec, the 32-year-old is a temporarily large middleweight who lost wide to Cesar Mateo Tapia in his lone fight of note two years ago. He’s more well-traveled than your average South American can-crusher, trouncing taxi drivers in such far-off locales as Curacao, Colombia, and Mexico, but he offers absolutely nothing as a contender. It’s not like Munguia desperately needs to shake rust, either; he cruised past Armando Resendiz five months ago, and he fought Resendiz after a year-long layoff. There’s no reason to do this outside of record-padding, and the idea that Munguia’s team is so desperate to squeeze out an easy title defense that they’re willing to offer probably five or six digits to a 50/50 opponent blows my mind. To reiterate what I said about Denzel Bentley trying the same schtick: loser behavior. For his part, Melikuziev (17-1, 11 KO) says he’s not interested. He could just be driving a hard bargain, but considering how long he’s been waiting for the shot he’s owed, I can believe it. Fingers crossed he stays obstinate; after the whole Paramount lawsuit debacle I’m in desperate need of someone sticking to their convictions.