The Jaime Munguia vs. Jimmy Kelly match will see the super middleweight boxers go against each other on Saturday, June 11th, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, USA. Both the boxers are among the top-ranked super middleweight boxers in the world. It is a great fight on paper. This is because Munguia winning the Jaime Munguia vs. Jimmy Kelly match would take his undefeated record to more than thirty-nine wins. But the interesting point is that Kelly has not been defeated in any professional boxing match in the past three years. Munguia will look to duplicate the success that he has obtained in the Junior Middleweight division so far. Kelly is also seeking to add more wins to his already impressive professional boxing career. In the past, he has also won the WBO Intercontinental Super-Welterweight championship belt. But unfortunately for Golden Boy Promotions and the streaming service that will show the Jaime Munguia vs. Jimmy Kelly match, there has not been much interest shown by the boxing fans in this match.
This is because fans see this as another mismatch that pits Munguia against a weaker rival. When we go into deeper analysis, the streaming service should not have accepted the boxing match because it was not a good move to involve the former WBO title holder, who has not moved up the ladder much since making a move to another weight division three years ago. A number of boxing fans think that the promoters are safeguarding the young Munguia from the top-ranked boxers in his weight division. They want to keep his undefeated record score long enough to get a big match against Gennadiy Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, which can earn everyone big bucks. The promoters can also forget about Canelo ever thinking about going for a match against Munguia because there is a lot of history that happened when the star from Mexico used to fight against them. He will certainly not look to earn that promotion a lot of money by going against their safeguarded boxer, who has not earned the chance to go against him.
The rival of Munguia in the Jaime Munguia vs. Jimmy Kelly match is a lesser-known boxer, Jimmy Kelly. He is a professional from England who has had a decade-long professional boxing career. His prominent fights have been against Dennis Hogan and Liam Smith, and both have resulted in losses. Against Hogan, the boxer was defeated by a very lopsided unanimous decision. Munguia is ranked among the top boxers in all the various organizations. With his high ranking, he has already had some options to go for a world champion belt match in the middleweight division against Demetrius Andrade and Jermall Charlo. But he has not yet gone for that route to secure his unbeaten record. He is still aiming for a fight against Golovkin or Canelo. So going for a world championship opportunity is not so important for Munguia. He is more interested in the money.
The middleweight champ Golovkin is the only realistic option for such a fight for Munguia. This is because, as mentioned above, Canelo is never going to fight against him. But it is not clear whether Golovkin will still be active after the trilogy matches against Canelo in September. He will make a lot of cash for the final match against Canelo. He might not want to continue his professional boxing career if he loses in that match. For Golovkin to go from jostling against Canelo to fighting against Munguia for a lot less money might not be a motivation enough to continue boxing.
Munguia is a resident of Tijuana, Mexico. He had gone against D'Mitrius Ballard last year. He was able to win against his rival in the initial rounds and retained his WBO InterContinental Middleweight championship belt. Before that, he had boxed against Gabriel Rosado. He defeated him by unanimous decision. Kelly is a resident of Lancashire, United Kingdom. He went against Kanat Islam last year and won the match by the majority. This helped him to get the WBO Global Middleweight championship belt. Before that, he had gone against Harry Matthews. Matthews had a record of fifteen wins and nearly fifty losses. He won that match in the initial rounds by knockout. Only Islam had a good record of more than twenty-seven wins and zero losses. But Munguia's other rivals have been much better than what Kelly has faced. One of Munguia's rivals, Rosado, has been in the boxing ring with Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermell Charlo, Danny Jacobs, David Lemieux, and Willie Monroe Jr.
Ballard had a record of more than twenty wins and only a single loss when they went to fight against each other. The super-middleweight boxers have been in the ring with Dennis Hogan and Liam Smith. Munguia was able to win against both, while Kelly lost against them. The match between Munguia and Kelly is looking to serve as a small test for the young boxer from Mexico. Jimmy Kelly has a winning streak against Miguel Aguilar, Harry Matthews, and Kamat Islam in the past few years. But two of the rivals on the list have dreadful professional boxing records. So, it is natural that his promoters have not allowed him to go against boxers who may be way beyond his depth in recent times.
Munguia said, "I have to be careful with Kelly. I know he is coming with nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I have to make sure not to let my guard down. We decided to move to Big Bear in search of sparring partners. I am getting bigger and need sparring partners of my size. Although Otomi does have great fighters, the issue for me is the size, and also, fewer fighters are willing to go out there for sparring. In Big Bear, we are in the boxing hub of Southern California and have more access to fighters willing to make the drive for a sparring session."
Nationality: Mexican
Date of birth: October 6, 1996
Height: 6' 0"
Reach: N/A
Total fights: 39
Record: 39-0 (31 KOs)
Nationality: Great Britain
Date of birth: September 1, 1992
Height: 6' 0"
Reach: N/A
Total fights: 28
Record: 26-2 (10 KOs)
1. Oscar Duarte vs. Mark Bernaldez
2. Evan Anthony Sanchez vs. Carlos Ortiz Cervantes
3. Jorge Estrada Ramirez vs. Hassan Coleman
Conclusion
Jamie Munguia looks to win the Jaime Munguia vs. Jimmy Kelly match that will be held in a few days. The young boxer from Mexico is finding his path upwards through the ranks of the weight division he has chosen. He has tested himself against other popular boxers such as Gary O'Sullivan, Smith, Hogan, and Rosado. A couple of years ago, his match against the latter was seen as one of the top matches of that year. Suppose Jimmy Kelly loses the Jaime Munguia vs Jimmy Kelly match. In that case, he will have to take the role of the gatekeeper and start serving as a stepping stone for the younger boxing prospects out there. He only has a couple of losses on his record. But both the losses were in a very comprehensive manner. He has taken back his professional reputation in his recent matches. But he has had matches against such journeymen as Kevin McCauley. The latter has a record of fewer than sixteen wins and more than two hundred losses.
But as the experts and fans of the sport know very well, the boxers involved in the match cannot afford to take things lightly. It does not matter how lopsided the match looks on paper. So, the preparation must be in full force for both sides.