Fight fans have been clamouring for Jaime Munguia to step up in competition and fight a top-tier opponent or better yet, a world champion. Perhaps, this is the fight that can finally propel Munguia there, as the undefeated Mexican will clash with Gonzalo Coria at the Arena Astros in Guadalajara, Mexico on Saturday night, and live on DAZN.
A win here and Munguia will deliver his third victory of the year and likely set himself up for a bigger 2023.
That being said, Munguia needs a sizzling performance. Here are the keys to victory for both Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs) and Coria (21-5, 8 KOs).
Gonzalo Coria's keys to victory
Assert jab, make early deposits to the body
Jaime Munguia can be a forward-fighting force in the ring. Gonzalo Coria’s hope to stop that encroachment, and the pressure that comes with it, is a jab. If Coria can assert that jab early and use it to make commitments to the body, perhaps he can keep Munguia at bay. The chances of him being successful at that against an aggressive volume puncher like Munguia are low, but the Argentine fighter still must try.
Time and unload left hooks
Coria does not have knockout power. However, Munguia did show brief vulnerability to a left hook during his fifth-round KO of Jimmy Kelly in June and Coria is a southpaw. So, if Coria can time the punch it could be worthwhile for him to fire the heavy-handed shot to catch Munguia off guard like Kelly did.
Fire compact, chopping right hands in the clinch
Last year, Munguia scored a comfortable unanimous decision over Gabriel Rosado. But there were plenty of sequences over the bout that had Munguia and Rosado engaging in a fire fight with the rugged Philadelphia boxer having success with short, chopping right hands to the temple.
If Coria can rifle these shots after initiating the clinch, he can momentarily sap and stifle Munguia's relentless pursuit. Anything to try to hinder Munguia's punching power, which includes a knockout ratio of 80 percent entering this bout.
Jaime Munguia's keys to victory
Get off to a quicker start, show tighter guard
Munguia produced three knockdowns en route to a fifth-round KO of Jimmy Kelly five months ago. But even a dominant victory like that can be an opportunity to grow. Though Munguia once again flashed his game-changing power, he did get off to a slow start. Plus, and even more concerning, was his lack of a tight guard.
The second round of the bout had Kelly lunging and catching Munguia with a left hook that brushed the Mexican back. Had Kelly had more pop to his punch, Munguia might have tasted the canvas. Munguia cannot afford to have such a mental lapse in inexplicably bringing his guard down. It's how upsets are made. A quick start with that tighter guard is a key.
Volume up, keep pressure constant
Time and time again, Munguia proves that his best defense is offense. In living and thriving with that theme, Munguia has to turn his punch volume up with constant, forward-fighting pressure. A high punch output with relentless pressure combined with Munguia's undeniable power should be the recipe to overwhelm Coria handily.
Punctuate victory help secure biggest fight to date
Look — fight fans are growing more listless every time a Jaime Munguia bout is announced and it's not against a top-tier opponent. He hasn't fought a world champion in years and it's been more than three calendars since he enjoyed a world title reign himself — as the then-WBO junior middleweight champion in 2019.
DAZN's Barak Bess highlighted three fights that Munguia could look to book with urgency if successful against Coria in Chris Eubank Jr., Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade. I agree with all of these fighters, especially stressing an Andrade fight, considering how easy it should be to make. I'm going to go ahead and add WBA (Regular) super middleweight champion David Morrell into the mix. Someone, anyone of stronger notoriety is who Munguia needs.
But in order to get there and secure one of the aforementioned names, Munguia must decimate Coria and make this fight look every bit of a flexing showcase first.