Jaime Munguia is one victory away from challenging for his second title.

But a fellow unbeaten, hungry fighter from Kazakhstan promises to stand in his way.

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has officially ordered an interim middleweight title fight between Tijuana’s Munguia (39-0, 31 KOs) and Janibek Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs), who are both ranked the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked fighters, respectively, within the sanctioning body.

The Ring rates Munguia at No. 4 and Alimkhanuly at No. 7 in the middleweight division.

“Please be advised that the WBO World Championship Committee orders the parties herein to commence the negotiations for the above-referenced bout between Jaime Munguia and [Janibek] Alimkhanuly,” said WBO Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas. “The parties are granted 10 days to reach an agreement.”

The WBO will host a purse bid hearing if a deal is not reached by March 4. The minimum bid for a WBO-sanctioned 160-pound title fight is $200,000.

The order comes just three days after Munguia, a former junior middleweight champion, destroyed D’Mitrius Ballard inside three rounds this past Saturday in Tijuana. The fight marked his fifth at 160-pounds after vacating his 154-pound title in November 2019.

“Munguia? Easy work,” Alimkhanuly stated on social media. “Guys, I don’t like jokes. If I said easy work, it will be easy work inshalla. I beat two former world champions [Robert Brant and Hassam N’Dam]. Before I beat them, I said that I will knock them out. And I did it. I know myself well. I am very confident in myself. I’ll beat anyone.

The 28-year-old Alimkhanuly, a southpaw who is fresh off an eighth-round TKO of N’Dam on November 20, initially had his eyes set on undefeated WBO middleweight Demetrius Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), who, like Munguia, is a former 154-pound beltholder. However, the American is instead pursuing an interim title fight at super middleweight against England’s Zach Parker.

If Andrade were to win that fight, he would become the WBO mandatory challenger for undisputed and The Ring No. 1 pound-for-pound king Saul’ Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs), given that he provides formal notice of his plans to the WBO within 10 days. Failure to do so means Andrade will either defend his 160-pound title against the winner of Munguia-Alimkhanuly or vacate.

Should Munguia or Alimkhanuly fail to come to terms, it could open the door for unbeaten No.4-ranked WBO contender Danny Dignum (14-0-1, 8 KOs), a southpaw from the United Kingdom. The 29-year-old has scored knockouts in three out of his last four fights. The WBO originally ordered Alimkhanuly to face No.3-rated WBO contender Esquiva Falcao (29-0, 20 KOs). However, the Brazilian’s team bowed out of negotiations.