Golden Boy Announces Jaime Munguia Next Bout For June

Unable to secure a title shot at middleweight, at least for now, former top 160 lb. contender Jaime Munguia will move up in weight to headline for Golden Boy Promotions later this Summer.

Golden Boy made the details official that Munguia will fight Brit Jimmy Kelly in the main event of their June 11th show,

🚨JUST ANNOUNCED🚨Jaime Munguia returns to the ring June 11th to face off 🆚 former world title challenger, Jimmy "Kilrain'' Kelly. The 12-round super middleweight fight will take place at Honda Center in Anaheim, CA and will stream LIVE worldwide on @DAZNboxing.#MunguiaKelly pic.twitter.com/dOMoF7qsZ2

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) May 18, 2022

From their press release on the Munguia bout:

“After a triumphant homecoming in Tijuana, Mexico in February, former world champion and undefeated Mexican super-star, Jaime Munguia (39-0, 31 KOs) will return to Anaheim’s Honda Center on Saturday, June 11 to face off against former world title challenger, Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly (26-2, 10 KOs) of Manchester, UK. The 12-round super middleweight fight will stream live on DAZN worldwide, excluding Mexico.

“I am very excited to return to Anaheim and fight in front of all the fans against a high-quality English rival like Kelly,” said Jaime Munguia. “It won’t be an easy night, but we are preparing very hard. This new edition of Mexico vs. England will be very exciting for all fight fans, and I am convinced that I will pass this test and be on my way to a world title soon!”

“As a child, I dreamt of fighting in America, that dream came true when I beat the undefeated Kanat Islam,” said Jimmy Kelly. “Munguia is the number one guy at 160lbs. To be the best, you need to beat the top fighters in the world. June 11 can’t come quick enough. Munguia is in for the fight of his life.”

The ‘Pride of Tijuana’ Jaime Munguia is ranked as one of the top middleweights in the world by all sanctioning organizations After a spectacular victory against “King,” Gabriel Rosado in November 2021 and a knock-out victory against D’Mitrius “Big Meech” Ballard during his homecoming in February 2022, Munguia is on a mission to prove he is the best in the division and elevate his record to 40-0.

A former world champion in the junior middleweight division, Munguia has successfully defended his titles and record against challengers. After defending his world title five times against fighters like Liam “Beefy” Smith, Brandon “Bad Boy” Cook, Takeshi Inoue, Dennis Hogan, and Patrick Allotey, Muguia will be ready to defend record when he faces Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly on June 11.

Undefeated since 2019, Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly stunned the boxing world last time out beating Kanat Islam via a majority decision in February. Ranked #4 in the middleweight division in the UK, Kelly will be prepared to claim another victory during his second US outing. A former world title challenger, and a former holder of the WBO Inter-Continental Super Welter Title.”

Despite the spin of the release, there’s no question that this bout is a let-down from Munguia and Golden Boy having been in talks for him to fight unbeaten WBC middleweight champ Jermall Charlo instead, in June. That would have been the highest profile and biggest financial payday bout for the Mexican star so far.

But, as we wrote previously, that bout never materialized primarily because Premier Boxing Champions, which controls Charlo, would not relent to allow Golen Boy’s partner DAZN to also broadcast the fight along with PBC’s partner, Showtime.

PBC/Showtime moved on quickly to have Charlo, 32-0, 22 KOs make his latest defense against Maciej Sulecki coming for June 18th in Charlo’s hometown of Houston.

It’s certainly possible that after this bout, Munguia could look to move back down to middleweight and play out options of a possible WBO title shot, as well.