WBO World Champion Jaime Munguia: Tremendous Honor To Represent Our People On 9/14

Somehow, Jaime Munguia will find a way to make 154 pounds at least one more time.

That was the mentality within his camp and particularly of the unbeaten super welterweight titlist when the opportunity arose to headline a Mexican Independence Day-themed card. Munguia will face Ghana’s Patrick Allotey in the main event of a DAZN-streamed card on Sept. 14 live from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

“It’s such a tremendous honor to represent Mexico, represent our people,” Munguia (33-0, 26KOs) told BoxingScene.com of being selected to headline the card. “To be able to do it in California means even more. I’ve never fought there before.

“I know we have a lot of fans there who now get to see me fight that wouldn’t have been able to travel to Las Vegas, or Mexico or anywhere else. So now I get to fight in California for the first time and on such a big (weekend) for our heritage.”

The assignment went to the 22-year old from Tijuana, Mexico after World middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was unable to keep the date. The plan was for Alvarez—who has commanded Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day-centric cards for each of the past three years—to headline a Sept. 14 show in Las Vegas.

However, Golden Boy Promotions was forced to seek an alternate route once it became clear the sport’s biggest draw was going to have to push back his timetable in order to secure his next opponent.

That brought the conversation to Munguia, whom has emerged as a rising star in the sport. The next bout will mark his sixth in just 16 months, all in title fights dating back to his one-sided 4th round stoppage of Sadam Ali to win the crown last May.

Concerns arose of his fleeing the division following a disputed points win over Dennis Hogan this past April in Monterrey, Mex., as it has become increasingly difficult to squeeze his 6’0”—and still maturing—frame into a 154-pound uniform.

It’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make for at least one more fight, it if means commanding the spotlight in honor of his nation’s most celebrated holiday. So far, training camp is going as planned to where he could consider sticking around at the weight for the right opportunity.

“We’ll see how we feel but so far camp is going really well and I’m not really thinking about moving up in weight yet,” Munguia insisted. “We haven’t really made any changes. Maybe just eating less, definitely no more tacos until after the fight.

“Once we get past (Allotey), then we can celebrate the right way. This weekend is too important for Mexicans, I want to handle the honor responsibly.”

Article by Jake Donovan / BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox