Jaime Munguia may not be challenging for a world title next, but a familiar name has popped up as an opponent for the unbeaten middleweight contender. 

Munguia will likely face former two-time world middleweight titleholder Daniel Jacobs on June 11. ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez was the first to break the story.

Rodriguez stated sources close to both parties have told him talks have intensified over the last week. One stipulation in the contract is about a catch weight of 164 pounds. Munguia has fought at 160 pounds for the last couple of years and would move up in weight to face Jacobs, who has fought his last three fights as a super middleweight.

Munguia (39-0, 31 knockouts) had the option of squaring off against WBC titleholder Jermall Charlo later this year. He is the number one contender for both the WBC and WBO world title belts. A source confirmed to The Ring that a verbal agreement was reached between Charlo and Munguia, but the deal fell apart reportedly due to failed attempts to also have DAZN stream the fight. Golden Boy Promotions, which co-promotes Munguia along with Zanfer Promotions, has an exclusive deal with DAZN to stream their fight cards. 

Because a fight between Charlo and Munguia fell through, the WBC ordered a world title eliminator between Munguia and hard-hitting Carlos Adames of the Dominican Republic to face Charlo, but Munguia reportedly turned down the offer. The 25-year-old also reportedly turned down the opportunity to face unbeaten Zhanibek Alimkhanuly of Kazakhstan for a vacant interim title belt through the WBO. 

Rodriguez reported that the offer is still there for Munguia, who is ranked No. 4 by The Ring, to face Alimkhanuly later this year. In his last bout on February 19, Munguia knocked out unbeaten D’Mitrius Ballard in the third round before a large crowd in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. 

Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs), who resides in Brooklyn, New York, lost by split-decision to John Ryder in his last bout on February 12. The loss to Ryder took place over a year after Jacobs defeated Gabriel Rosado by split-decision in a fight that many thought Rosado did enough to win.

The 35-year-old lost to Ring Magazine super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in May 2019 in a world middleweight unification fight. He is 2-2 in his last four bouts. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE RING FOR FREE VIA THE NEW APP NOW. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO ACCESS MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF BACK ISSUES.