Jaime Munguia challenged Caleb Plant and Edgar Berlanga following his tenth-round knockout victory over Erik Bazinyan (32-1, 23 KOs) in the main event last Friday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
(Photo credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) wants a big name to be ranked highly and put himself in position for another world championship challenge, and a win over Plant or Plant would be an excellent way to move to the top and get a rematch with unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia also mentioned that he would like to face WBC No. 1 Christian Mbilli. However, he is recovering from an injury from his last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko and reportedly only wants to fight Canelo for the world title next. Mbilli has already earned his world title. It would not make sense for him to risk that spot against Munguia.
Both of those fighters would be a risk for Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs), who struggled with Bazinyan’s jab and occasional bursts of punches last night. After what he showed against Bazinyan, it would be difficult for Munguia to fight the huge puncher Berlanga or the experienced boxer Plant.
Plant had mentioned that he would like to fight Munguia next after his recent win over Trevor McCumby on September 14. It would be a great fight for the fans.
“There are great things coming, great fights at 168 pounds. There’s Caleb Plant, Berlanga, Christian Mbilli. There are great fights and we’re going to have great wars,” Munguia said when interviewed after his win over Bazinyan.
Berlanga’s management is likely to reject Munguia’s offer, as he is next expected to face a warm-up fight in New York or Puerto Rico in early 2025 to rejuvenate himself following his loss to Canelo on September 14.
After losing to Canelo in a tough fight and then going up against a hard puncher like Munguia would not be a smart move for Berlanga.
Of the three fighters Munguia challenged, Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) is the most realistic to accept his offer. Caleb Plant needs such a win to increase his chances of a lucrative rematch against Canelo. In 2021, former IBF super middleweight champion Plant was knocked out by Alvarez in the 11th round.
This loss for Plant makes it necessary for him to get a big win over a big-name fighter like Munguia to strengthen his position for a rematch against Canelo. Plant’s recent win over the little-known McCumby wasn’t big enough to encourage Canelo to fight him again.
