Munguia Leaves De La Hoya; Was It Because Of Canelo?
Oscar De La Hoya has suffered a major blow after Jaime Munguia signed a multi-fight deal with Top Rank.
Munguia left Golden Boy Promotions after his loss to Canelo Alvarez. It was the first defeat of his career as he missed out on the chance to become the Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion. Before the fight, De La Hoya talked up Munguia as someone who could dethrone Canelo. In the pre-fight presser, Canelo warned Munguia about De La Hoya. Alvarez accused De La Hoya of attempting to steal his money during his time with Golden Boy.
Canelo warned Munguia to be wary as Alvarez and De La Hoya nearly came to blows. Munguia has left for a fresh start, leaving De La Hoya without one of his best stars. It is claimed Munguia will box Erik Bazinyan on September 20. The news will come as a surprise as De La Hoya had big plans for Mexico despite his loss.
De La Hoya On Munguia
“I thought Jaime did excellent against the current face of boxing right now,” De La Hoya said. “I strongly feel that — I take nothing away from Canelo, I’ve always said he’s a good fighter in the ring. But, this experience for Jaime will just take him to another level.
“It’s just like Mayweather and Canelo. It’s the same thing. Canelo got schooled and then he became the face of boxing. Same thing with Munguia. He gained experience. He didn’t get schooled. [And] he gains experience and becomes a better fighter. This is just the beginning for Jaime,” De La Hoya said
Oscar oversaw Munguia’s first world title in 2018 when the Mexican stopped Sadam Ali to win the WBO Junior Middleweight Title. Munguia then worked his way up the ranks to become one of the best super middleweights. Top Rank has fellow super middleweight Christian Mbilli in their ranks. Mbilli takes on Sergiy Derevyanchenko. If Mbilli comes out on top, he could face Munguia sometime next year.
Munguia’s Set-Up
Munguia’s other change will be to reunite with his former trainer, Erik Morales. He teamed up with Freddie Roach for the Canelo fight to add more offense to his game. While he did land on Canelo, Munguia did not have the power to earn Canelo’s respect. Munguia will reunite with his ex-trainer Erik Morales. That trainer change has also come out of the blue, given Roach’s praise for the fighter.
“If he didn’t have a defense, he wouldn’t have an offense at all, either. He’s a good fighter, he listens very well. I train him in the gym and I train him hard, and it’s worked out well. Mostly his head movement [has improved]. He’s slipping punches, making guys miss. He counters on top of that – countering’s the important part, ‘cause that’s where the points can be scored. He’s gonna slip and make him miss and counter with the right hand over the top, or with the left jab. I’ve got him really prepared for this. We’ve done this over and over and over again,” Roach said
De La Hoya has also lost Ryan Garcia to a one-year ban. Ryan failed for Ostarine, meaning his win over Devin Haney became a no-contest. De La Hoya now has William Zepeda and Vergil Ortiz as other big names. Since neither of them has a world title, De La Hoya has a challenge building up those fighters while keeping them in his stable.
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