Jaime Munguia reportedly plans to face veteran Ronald Gavril on December 14th at the Stadium Hot in Tijuana, Mexico. This will be a quick turnaround for the former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia, who stopped Erik Bazinyan in the tenth round on September 20th.
Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN Knockout reports that Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) is lining up a fight against Gavril (25-3, 20 KOs) for December 14th.
Fans had hoped that Munguia would face Edgar Berlanga or Caleb Plant next because those were much more appealing fights. The reaction on social media to the news of Munguia potentially fighting Gavril next has been negative.
People see this fight as Munguia returning to his old pattern of fighting lower-level opposition in record-padding fights. Most of Munguia’s past wins have come against weaker fighters and not the stellar competition that one would assume when looking at his 44-1 record.
On a positive note. Munguia is staying busy because this is his third fight in 2024, and that could help him rise up the rankings. He lost to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez by a 12-round unanimous decision on May 4th and made life-changing money in that fight. Munguia would like a rematch to get a second payday.
To get a second fight against Canelo, Munguia will need to beat at least two good contenders, like Christian Mbilli and Caleb Plant. Top Rank promotes Munguia now, and they may play it safe with him, choosing to match him against weaker opoisition, hoping that Canelo will eventually choose him for a rematch.
Gavril has won his last seven fights since losing to David Benavidez by a twelve-round unanimous decision in their rematch in February 2018.
In their previous fight, Benavidez edged Gavril, winning a 12-round split decision in September 2017. In that fight, an exhausted Benavidez was knocked down in the twelfth round.
Gavril gave Benavidez a lot of trouble in the contest, but that was seven years ago, and he’s not the same fighter. None of Gavril’s last seven wins have come against notable opposition, and he’s not young at 38.
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