Jaime Munguia will be aiming to successfully retain his WBO light-middleweight championship against Ghanaian Patrick Allotey this weekend in Carson, California.
Since capturing the title in devastating fashion, pummelling Sadam Ali into submission inside four rounds, the undefeated Mexican has successfully defended his title on four occassions against Liam Smith, Brandon Cook, Takeshi Inoue and Dennis Hogan.
The utterly dominant nature of his title win, in addition to the successful defences he has made against respected opponents means that Munguia has now established himself as one of his country’s most exciting young talents.
However, for all his prodigious physical attributes – including his immense strength and relentless combination punching – it was evident from his last performance against Dennis Hogan that Munguia lacks a certain defensive discipline; an aspect of his game which many believe can be exploited by some of his quality counterparts in the division.
In defending his title on home soil in Monterey for the first time, Munguia produced a decidedly unconvincing display and appeared to largely outfoxed and outboxed for the most part by a motivated challenger in Dennis Hogan.
Ultimately, Munguia was incredibly fortunate to walk away from the contest as the clear beneficiary of hometown judging, with his championship credentials and undefeated record still intact.
It is imperative this time that he sharpens up and makes a statement to win comfortably against Allotey – someone who has suffered setbacks against contenders Kanat Islam and Patrick Teixeira – in order to reassert himself as one of the most relevant figures in the division.