Jermall Charlo believes that Jaime Munguia tried to avoid meeting him in the boxing ring.
Charlo has fought once since 2020 but remains the WBC middleweight champion, and was forced to miss out on a title defence against Maciej Sulecki but was not required to vacate his belt.
The 32-year-old is now ready to return to the ring in 2023, reported BoxingScene.com.
“‘23,” he said of the planned year for his comeback. “I’m 100% now.”
It had been expected that he would come up against Mexican middleweight before he was struck by ill health, but the pair circled one another without agreeing to step into the ring.
Munguia has been busy, but not against the biggest stars in the division, so may be aiming for a similarly high-profile clash next year, after his most recent win saw him defeat Gonzalo Gaston Coria live on DAZN on November 19.
Munguia has namechecked Charlo as well as Gennadiy Golovkin, but the American champion thinks he does not really want to take him on.
“Munguia don’t want no smoke,” he said.
“He would’ve fought me.”