KILDARE LIGHT-MIDDLEWEIGHT DENNIS Hogan [28-1-1, 7KOs] will face Mexico’s Jaime Munguia [32-0, 26KOs] for the WBO world title on the champion’s home soil on 13 April.
Munguia will make the mandatory defence of his belt against the Brisbane-based Kilcullen native at the 18,000-capacity Arena Monterrey in six weeks’ time.
The bout will be broadcast live on DAZN in the USA, with no TV details yet confirmed for this neck of the woods.
The Courier Mail in Australia report that ‘The Hurricane’ will receive a career-biggest purse for the world-title shot he has been chasing for over a year. They quote a figure of A$500,000, which translates to just over €300,000.
The WBO had initially set a deadline of 4 March for Hogan’s representatives Paul Keegan and DDP, and Munguai’s co-backers Zanfer and Golden Boy, to reach a deal before the fight was put to a purse bid.
On Wednesday, however, the sanctioning body was informed by both sides that a deal had been reached, and so the purse bid was called off.
Hogan’s team were initially reticent to face Munguia in Mexico but remain confident of victory while having extracted the maximum financial benefit for their fighter.
The42 has previously reported that Golden Boy are keen to establish an ongoing relationship with Hogan and DDP regardless of the outcome of the Munguia fight.
Were the 33-year-old Hogan to beat the man they call ‘The Beast’, 11 years his junior, a Golden Boy arrangement would likely lead to a first-ever all-Irish world-title fight between the Kildare man and Cork’s Spike O’Sullivan [29-3, 20KOs] who is co-promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s outfit.
O’Sullivan has recently joined Hogan in the light-middleweight ranks as he launches one last assault on world honours.
Even if Hogan were to lose to Munguia, it’s far from inconceivable that he would later square off with O’Sullivan in a world-title eliminator should Munguia decide to vacate his strap and move up to his more natural weight of 160 as expected.
O’Sullivan must first see off Khiary Gray [16-4, 12KOs] in an eight-round contest at the House of Blues in Boston on what’s set to be a bumper St Patrick’s weekend for Irish boxers Stateside.
Munguia-Hogan makes for the fourth scheduled world-title fight involving an Irish boxer between Patrick’s weekend and the end of April.
Katie Taylor will attempt to relieve Rose Volante of her WBO World lightweight title in a unification bout in Philadelphia on 15 March before Jono Carroll challenges IBF World super-featherweight champion Tevin Farmer on the same Matchroom USA bill.
Munguia-Hogan will take place less than a fortnight before Portlaoise’s TJ Doheny squares off with Danny Roman in another unification bout, with Doheny’s IBF World super-bantamweight title and Roman’s WBA equivalent up for grabs in Inglewood, California.
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