Munguia-Jacobs: Negotiations Ongoing For Fight At Catchweight On DAZN  

Jaime Munguia won’t fight Jermall Charlo on June 18, but he might get a chance to face a former middleweight champion during that month.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that negotiations are ongoing for Mexico’s Munguia to box ex-IBF 160-pound champion Daniel Jacobs. Their fight could take place as soon as June 11, but also at a later date.

BoxingScene.com also has learned that Munguia (39-0, 31 KOs) and Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs) will box at a catchweight higher than 164 pounds, despite rumors that they’ve settled on 164 pounds as their contract weight. Both boxers want the fight, though, and Golden Boy Promotions (Munguia), Keith Connolly, Jacobs’ manager, and Eddie Hearn, Jacobs’ promoter, are in the early stages of trying to come to an agreement for a fight DAZN would stream.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, who is also part of DAZN’s broadcast team, first reported during the newest episode of his podcast that talks between handlers for Munguia and Jacobs had begun.

Earlier this month, the 25-year-old Munguia seemingly could’ve chosen between title fights against Charlo, the WBC middleweight champion, and Janibek Alimkhanuly for the vacant WBO middleweight title.

Once negotiations between Golden Boy and promoter Tom Brown, who represents Charlo, broke down over whether Showtime and/or DAZN would televise or stream Charlo-Munguia and if it’d be a pay-per-view fight, Houston’s Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) chose to make an optional defense of his title against Poland’s Maciej Sulecki (30-2, 11 KOs) on June 18 in Houston. Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs) is expected to encounter England’s Danny Dignum (14-0-1, 8 KOs) for that unclaimed WBO belt May 21.

With Charlo and Alimkhanuly headed in different directions, Munguia’s co-promoters, Golden Boy and Zanfer Boxing, were left to find another opponent.

Brooklyn’s Jacobs lost a debatable 12-round split decision to British southpaw John Ryder (31-5, 17 KOs) on February 12 at Alexandra Palace in London, Ryder’s hometown. In his previous appearance, Jacobs won a controversial split decision over Philadelphia’s Gabe Rosado (26-14-1, 15 KOs) in November 2020 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Tijuana’s Munguia defeated Rosado rather convincingly in their 12-rounder, which took place November 13 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. In his subsequent bout, Munguia overwhelmed D’Mitrius Ballard (21-1-1, 13 KOs) on his way to a third-round stoppage February 19 at Plaza Monumental in Tijuana.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.