KILDARE MAN DENNIS Hogan and WBO World light-middleweight champion Jaime Munguia of Mexico will fight on the same Golden Boy Promotions bill, but versus separate opponents, in Los Angeles on 19 October, as first reported by Irish-boxing.com.
It’s expected that victories for both men would lead to a rematch between them, or at the very least a shot at the vacant title for Hogan should Munguia decide to abdicate and move up to middleweight as has long been mooted.
Kilcullen’s ‘Hurricane’, based in Brisbane, challenged the unbeaten Mexican for his world title in Monterrey in April but came out on the wrong side of a razor-thin majority decision.
The judges verdict sparked outrage even among a significant portion of Mexican fans, prompting calls for an immediate rematch — although Hogan’s appeal to the WBO was later rejected despite five independent judges re-scoring the contest a draw as part of the sanctioning body’s internal investigation. Munguia himself had said in the ring post-fight: “Truthfully, as the [final] round was coming to end, I thought it could be a draw.”
The result in his favour stood, but the bout became shrouded in further controversy when Hogan’s team revealed during the fallout that neither man had been drug-tested before or after the fight.
Hogan’s manager and promoter, Dubliner Paul Keegan of DDP Sports, later flew to Las Vegas during the Canelo-Danny Jacobs fight week to meet with Munguia’s handlers, including Golden Boy, with a view to discussing a potential rematch.
Though Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya and president Eric Gomez expressed their eagerness for a hotly anticipated sequel, one sticking point remained: the 22-year-old Munguia, a behemoth at the 154-pound limit, has reportedly struggled to make weight for his last few title defences.
It remains to be seen as to whether he will remain at light-middle beyond October and seek vindication against Hogan or move up a division and begin his pursuit of compatriot Canelo, but at the very least his sharing a card — and what will surely be a spicy fight week — with the Irishman will intensify the clamour for them to run it back.
The bill will be shown live on DAZN in the States and it’s understood the cash-rich streaming platform, which counts Katie Taylor, Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin among its house stars, is extremely keen on Munguia-Hogan II. The prospective rematch would likely see both men earn career-highest purses.
As previously reported by The42, Golden Boy, too, have informed Hogan’s team of their interest in working with the Australian-based Leinsterman for future fights. Even if Munguia moves up rather than granting Hogan a rematch, it’s possible that ‘The Hurricane’ — still ranked at no.3 by the WBO — would then fight for the belt left behind by the Tijuana man.
Potential opponents in these circumstances could include England’s Kell Brook (currently the no.1 challenger), who has dismissed reports that he is to retire, and Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira (no.2).
Hogan, however, will hope Munguia — for whom he recently told The42 he has some sympathy — stays at 154 to finish what they started in April.
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