Former WBO Super Welterweight champion Jaime Munguia continued his unbeaten winning streak with a victory over opponent Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Their fight, held at the Toyota Arena on June 10th in Ontario, California, went the full distance over 12 rounds. The judges’ scorecards were as follows: 114-113 twice and 115-112.
The fight between Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KO’s) and Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10 KO’s) was a firecracker of a fight and as close as the scorecards indicated. Having tested the waters at Super Middleweight for the first time of his career in 2022, Munguia’s second fight in the division was significantly harder and closer than his last fight at that weight.
Derevyanchenko also made a move up to Super Middleweight as opposed to his last fight that was at 154 lbs, but the Ukrainian has had more experience than Munguia and looked perfectly matched for the Mexican fighter.
From the first round, the two fighters went at each other as if it was the championship rounds and the two were involved in heated exchanges. This carried on for two more rounds, with Sergiy Derevyanchenko noticeably struggling in the second round after an onslaught of damaging punches by Jaime Munguia. To his credit however, Derevyanchenko managed to carry the fight all the way to the 12th round.
Jaime Munguia eventually won the fight by unanimous decision that was helped along by knocking down Derevyanchenko with a body shot in the 12th round. His fight, however, was much closer than anticipated with Sergiy Derevyanchenko winning more rounds than he should have at his age of 37. Munguia, 26, seemed to struggle several rounds but excelled at certain points with powerful combinations, good jabs or a higher work rate. He also won the vacant WBC Silver Middleweight title was a result of his victory.
Though Munguia failed to continue his three-win KO streak, the Mexican contender gained valuable experience fighting a tough and gritty fighter in Derevyanchenko. Even though the Ukrainian is clearly aged and past his peak, it was a memorable moment for Jaime Munguia who has barely been tested in that manner in his past 40 fights or so.
Following his success over Derevyanchenko, Munguia’s future still seems clouded with many uncertain as to which direction he will take. Though he had been set to face Carlos Adames (22-1, 17 KO’s) in 2022 in a final title eliminator to decide the WBC mandatory for title holder Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KO’s), talks for a fight with Adames collapsed and the Mexican subsequently debuted at 168 lbs for the first time in June of that year.
More opportunities are at 160 lbs but given Jaime Munguia has withdrawn out of a final eliminator and since then fought twice at Super Middleweight, there is a possibility of him continuing at that weight. However, unlike the Middleweight division, the 168-pounds division sees only one champion that holds all the belts; Canelo Alvarez.
There likely won’t be any solid opportunities for Munguia to face Canelo Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KO’s) who is currently heavily linked with fighting Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KO’s) and David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KO’s). At 160 lbs, however, there currently remain three different champions with the vacant IBF title set to be decided on the 1st of July when Vincenzo Gualtieri (20-0-1, 7 KO’s) faces Esquiva Falcao (30-0, 20 KO’s) for the belt.
