“Look, the middleweight belt is something that has been on my mind. But the most important thing to me is to be a world champion on May 2,” said Munguia to Boxingscene.
It’s a crafty move from the Munguia playbook, building a fire escape before the building even starts smoking. If he manages to get past Armando Resendiz on May 2, he’d be holding the belt that Resendiz only just inherited after Terence Crawford retired and vacated in December.
It feels like Munguia is essentially admitting that 168 is a bridge too far for his chin and defensive lapses. If he loses to Resendiz, he can claim the weight cut to 168 was “too hard” and head to 160.
If he wins, he’ll sit on the belt until the WBA finally forces a mandatory against someone like Bektemir Melikuziev, at which point he’ll likely vacate and move to middleweight anyway.
A win over Resendiz would give him a belt at 168, but keeping it could be difficult with stronger contenders waiting and mandatory pressure likely to follow.
The middleweight division is a ghost town compared to the dangerous fighters at super middleweight. A move to 160 offers a more realistic lane for Munguia to help him extend his career. The biggest attraction is the vacant International Boxing Federation title. An open belt can create a faster path to a championship than chasing an established champion in a deeper division.
If he can snag that vacant IBF belt at middleweight, he can restart the cycle of careful matchmaking. He can hold a title, avoid the dangerous names, and milk his world champion status for a few more years of headlining slots.
Munguia’s pressure style and physical strength may also carry better at 160 than against larger super middleweights who can match him for size and hit harder.
He still has business with Resendiz first, and he made that clear. But fighters rarely mention another weight class during camp unless the possibility is already under discussion.
Munguia has always felt like a project designed for a specific financial destination, and now that the Canelo check has cleared, the lack of a “Plan B” at super middleweight is becoming painfully obvious.
When you look at the elite at 168, you see refined technical skills or devastating natural power. Munguia brings high volume and a lot of heart, but his defensive holes are wide enough to drive a truck through.
If an unknown like Surace can put him on the floor, the heavy hitters at super middleweight would have a field day.
Munguia hasn’t really evolved. He’s still the same pressure fighter who eats three shots to land two. That works at 154 or 160 against smaller men, but at 168, those three shots he eats are life-changing.
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