Tijuana’s undefeated former junior middleweight beltholder  Jaime Munguia will have his biggest test to date as he will take on Ukraine’s Sergiy “The Technician” Derevyanchenko on June 10. Munguia, who has campaigned at middleweight since the start of 2020, moves up to super middleweight to take on the former three-time title challenger at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. The bout and undercard will be streamed live on DAZN. 

“I’m happy to begin my year vs. Dereveyanchenko. He’s a solid opponent and a good test for my career,” Munguia (41-0, 32 KOs) told the Ring at a media roundtable held at the Downtown L.A. offices of Golden Boy, which co-promotes him with Zanfer Boxing. “This fight here is the next step in my career,” Munguia added. 

Last year, the 26-year-old stopped D’Metrius Ballard in the third round of his homecoming bout at the iconic Plaza Playas Monumental Tijuana, following up with another stoppage of Jimmy ‘Kilrain’ Kelly in five. In his most recent fight, Munguia annihilated Gonzalo Coria in three rounds in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“It was a good year for me fighting twice in Mexico and give the fans a good show. Most especially fighting at home; it was special night for me,” Munguia said of his 2022 campaign. 

Munguia begins 2023 looking to make a bold statement against the tough veteran Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs). In preparation for this fight, Munguia has begun his camp training in the high-altitude mountains in Big Bear, California as he will be working with legendary former world champion Erik “Terrible” Morales for their ninth fight together. Morales and Munguia teamed up back in the summer of 2019.

“It’s been a good camp so far. I will work on fighting from a distance but without a doubt it will be a great fight. We are working hard to look impressive and come out with a statement win,” Munguia said of his training camp. 

His opponent has taken on some of the best middleweight names in the business. Derevyachenko has faced Daniel Jacobs, Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, and Carlos Adames. He is coming off a unanimous decision win over Joshua Conley. 

Munguia and Derevyanchenko field questions during their LA presser that Derevyanchenko joined remotely. Photo / Golden Boy

“He is a tough fighter. A knockout over Derevyanchenko would be a good accomplishment but my team and I are not looking to knock him out. We are looking forward to a tough fight and looking good get the win, if the knockout comes it will be great,” Munguia said of his opponent. “I believe I can knock him out. In the ring things change but we are going to put on the best fight we can to come out on top,”

Despite being unbeaten in 41 fights and having held a world title, Munguia’s opposition has been ridiculed over the years and some fans carry the notion that he’s a protected fighter. His critics would agree that Derevyanchenko is a step up in competition. A win can potentially open the door for greater challenges. 

“Well, the truth, I respect everyone’s opinion and truthfully, I have always been open to fighting anyone and wanting the best fights. Charlo, GGG, all of them but nobody wants to fight,” Munguia stated. “Dereveyanchenko was the best available that was willing to fight.”

Some of the potential challenges down the line include WBC middleweight beltholder Jermall Charlo and former unified middleweight champion Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin. There was also some buzz of a potential fight with Dominican middleweight contender Carlos Adames. 

“There were talks about fighting Adames but we are looking to fight Charlo or GGG, but nothing was ever materialized,” Munguia said. 

“We want to make the best fights happen. The fact other fighters were not available, we had to go with Derevyanchenko which was the toughest guy he could face. I’m hoping this can open the doors for future fights with other promoters and we can make the best fights possible.,” Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. “Like I said before the Ryan Garcia fight with Tank Davis. It opened the doors to work with Al Haymon and to push for a fight that Munguia wanted, it’s Charlo. Fighting Derevyanchenko is a tough fight, he’s a warrior, he has fought with the best of the best including Daniel Jacobs, including GGG,”

De La Hoya also explained how he crossed paths with Charlo last month at a Golden Boy event in Texas, “He appeared in two of Golden Boys’ fights. I felt he was taunting me and was like let’s make the Munguia fight happen.” 

Munguia followed up and gave his take, “I was excited when he was approaching Oscar to make the fight. It’s a good beginning.”

Charlo would also reach out to Munguia via social media.

“I simply told Charlo, let’s make the fight,” Munguia said. 

As previously mentioned, this fight will take place at the 168-pound super middleweight division as De La Hoya frustratingly explained the situation regarding the champion at the 160-pound middleweight division. 

“Jaime Munguia is a warrior, he will fight with anybody. Bottom line we always wanted to pursue the best fights. For some reason the WBC at 160 has been held by Jermall Charlo for two years (without a title defense). I don’t understand why. We feel that Derevyanchenko vs. Munguia should be for the title or number one position. It didn’t happen, Mauricio Sulaiman did not make it happen,” De La Hoya said. “If that fight was ordered to fight for the number one position or world title. They would be fighting at 160, let’s make that clear. Charlo has no control of what fights he can put on. He must go through Al Haymon,”

Zanfer Promotions’s Fernando Beltran, Munguia’s co-promoter, gave us his take, “Also notice Charlo is struggling for the weight. He’s been out of the ring for two years, so if he wants 160, 168, or catchweight (we can do that). The main thing is to make that fight happen,” he said.

“The main focus right now is Derevyanchenko, I don’t want to overlook him, I expect him to give a tough fight and I am ready,” Munguia said. 

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