WBO Moves On From Jaime Munguia, Orders Janibek Alimkhanuly-Danny Dignum Interim Title Fight
Jaime Munguia has spent the past several days mulling offers for separate paths toward a middleweight title.
It appears that the choice has been made for him.
Boxing Scene has learned that Munguia’s team is in advanced talks for a potential showdown with two-division and reigning WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22KOs). A deal has yet to be reached for the fight which—as previously reported by BS.com senior writer/columnist Keith Idec—is being targeted for mid-June or July.
News of the developments serves as a source of frustration to the WBO, who has been generous to a fault in confirming Munguia’s prior commitment to a WBO interim middleweight title fight with Janibek Alimkhanuly. The fight was ordered February 22 by the sanctioning body, coming with a 10-day deadline for the two sides to reach a deal to avoid a purse bid hearing.
That level of generosity has run out, as the sanctioning body has moved on from that fight. The WBO has now ordered a new interim title fight between Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7KOs) and England’s Danny Dignum (14-0-1, 8KOs).
“The WBO has granted Team Munguia enough time to proceed with the bout as ordered,” Luis Batista-Salas, chairman of the WBO Championship Committee confirmed in an official letter to Alimkhanuly and Dignum, a copy of which was obtained by BS.com. “Therefore, considering their refusal and lack of interest to fight [Janibek] Alimkhanuly, this Committee shall proceed ordering negotiations with Team Danny Dignum accordingly.
“The parties herein have 10 days to reach an agreement. If an accord is not reached within the time frame outlined herein, a purse bid ceremony will be ordered per WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests. The minimum acceptable bid for the WBO Middleweight Division is $200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Dollars). Any of the parties involved may request a purse bid ceremony at any time during the negotiation process.”
Alimkhanuly is represented by Top Rank and manager Egis Klimas. Dignum is represented in talks by MTK Global’s Lee Eaton, though having recently signed with Probellum. The round of talks will put Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and Probellum co-founder Richard Schaefer—longtime promotional rivals—at the negotiating table and on opposite sides of the promotion should this fight move forward.
The announcement comes after more than a week of waiting out Munguia, whose team previously assured the sanctioning body of the Tijuana native’s intention to move forward with the interim title fight. Alimkhanuly was stuck in a holding pattern, an already frustrating scenario for the unbeaten Kazakh middleweight who is now on his fourth ordered middleweight title fight.
Alimkhanuly emerged as the mandatory challenger to WBO middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade (31-0, 19KOs), fittingly benefiting from Munguia declining for a second time to enforce his status to challenge for the title. The WBO ordered Andrade-Alimkhanuly last November 30, with a 20-day deadline for the two sides to reach terms. A purse bid hearing was ordered to take place January 14, only to endure three postponements and an outright cancellation once the fight was taken off the table.
Andrade— a 2008 U.S. Olympian and former two-time junior middleweight titlist who has held the WBO middleweight title since October 2018—was permitted to revisit previously explored plans for an interim super middleweight title fight with England’s Zach Parker. The WBO initially rejected the idea when Andrade took too long to reach a deal, only to put the fight back in play once undisputed WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs) confirmed his plans to next fight outside the division.
With that development came the call for Alimkhanuly to face Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao for the interim middleweight title. The pair of secondary title fights were approved by the WBO on the condition that Andrade decides within ten days of his fight with Parker—which is scheduled for May 21 in England—to confirm whether to return to middleweight or stay at super middleweight. The former would require Andrade to next face the interim middleweight titlist, who would receive an upgrade to full titlist in the event Andrade opts for the latter and remains at super middleweight.
For now, Alimkhanuly is still without an opponent although all indications point to Dignum moving forward with the fight.
Falcao removed himself from the mix, instead opting to remain put as the IBF mandatory challenger. The unbeaten Brazilian—a 2012 Olympic Silver medalist—will have to wait at least through the end of the year. Reigning IBF middleweight champ Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36KOs) is set to next face WBA titleholder Ryota Murata in a title unification bout April 9 in Saitama, Japan. A win by Golovkin will reportedly set up a long-sought trilogy clash with Alvarez on September 17 on DAZN Pay-Per-View.
The removal of Falcao led to the fight being offered to Munguia, who was coming off a third-round knockout of D’Mitrius Ballard on February 13 in his Tijuana hometown. Munguia spent more than two weeks sitting on the opportunity, before the sanctioning body received the information it needed to hear in moving forward with the next highest ranked challenger.
Dignum enters the equation on the heels of a sixth-round knockout just one month ago at the famed York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. The 29-year-old southpaw signed with upstart promotional company Probellum soon thereafter, while still represented by managerial conglomerate MTK Global who will take the lead in current negotiations.
