- Jaime Munguia's team is reportedly exploring vacating his WBA super middleweight title rather than face mandatory challenger Bektemir Melikuziev
- The WBA has set an October 21 deadline for the two sides to reach an agreement before ordering a purse bid
- Melikuziev, a heavy-handed southpaw body puncher, is viewed as high risk for a fight that would land on regular DAZN programming rather than a major payday
A Title Won In May, Almost Given Back In September
Right then. Jaime Munguia reclaimed his world champion status back in May with a win over Jose Armando Resendiz, and by September his own team are reportedly "taking a deep dive into the idea of giving up the title" rather than make the first defence. That is according to boxing insider Rick Glaser, and it tells you everything about how little appetite there is on Munguia's side for the fight the WBA have ordered him into.
The opponent in question is Bektemir Melikuziev, the dangerous Uzbek southpaw who has been shouting for exactly this opportunity since the summer. The WBA has given both camps until October 21 to reach an agreement, with a purse bid on the table if talks collapse.
Melikuziev Is The Fight Nobody On Munguia's Side Wants
Let's not beat around the bush about why. Melikuziev is a specialist body puncher with genuine one-punch power, the exact style that causes problems for a forward-marching, front-foot fighter like Munguia. He offers, in the words of one report doing the rounds this week, "considerable danger with nowhere near Canelo's commercial reward." That is the whole equation in one line: real risk, small money, no clear route to the superfights Munguia's team actually wants.
Munguia has already been through the wringer against elite operators. He lost to Canelo Alvarez in a fight that at least paid him properly, then suffered a shock stoppage loss to Bruno Surace that nobody saw coming, before grinding through a tough version of Sergiy Derevyanchenko. His team have managed his career cautiously since, picking spots rather than chasing danger for danger's sake, and Melikuziev on regular DAZN programming fits neither the risk profile nor the pay grade they are used to.
The Money Doesn't Match The Risk
If I am advising Munguia, I understand the temptation completely. A voluntary defence against a live puncher for a modest purse, with no marquee names attached, is exactly the kind of fight that can end a run of momentum overnight. But make no mistake, ducking a mandatory this publicly comes with its own cost. Vacating looks like exactly what it is, and fans do not forget it quickly.
This Is Becoming A Pattern At Super Middleweight
Munguia would not be the first at 168 pounds to walk away from a belt rather than take a dangerous voluntary defence this year. Hamzah Sheeraz did precisely that rather than face Janibek Alimkhanuly, handing the WBO title back within days of the purse bid being won. If Munguia goes the same way with the WBA strap, that is two major names at the same weight in the space of a fortnight choosing an empty mantelpiece over a live puncher. If you know, you know: that says as much about the state of the super middleweight division as it does about either fighter individually.
The Verdict
I think Munguia vacates. The financial logic points one way and his team have shown all year they will not gamble a title reign on a fight that does not pay accordingly. It is the safe move and I understand it, but it is not the brave one, and it leaves Melikuziev to fight for a vacant belt against whoever the WBA lines up next rather than the champion who was supposed to be standing in front of him. Proper fighters take the voluntary that scares them occasionally. This was the chance to prove it, and right now it looks like Munguia's side are choosing not to.