“Look, the middleweight belt is something that was on my mind. But the most important thing for me is to be a world champion on May 2,” Munguia told Boxingscene.
It’s a smart move from the Munguia playbook, to build a fire escape before the building even started smoking. If he manages to get past Armando Resendiz on May 2, he will hold onto the belt that Resendiz 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 that the weight cut to 168 was “too difficult” and go to 160.
If he wins, he’ll sit on the belt until the WBA finally enforces a commitment against someone like Bektemir Melikuziev, at which point he’ll likely vacate and move up to middleweight anyway.
A win over Resendiz would give him a belt at 168, but retaining it could prove difficult with stronger contenders awaiting and mandatory push likely to follow.
The middleweight division is a ghost town compared to the dangerous fighters at super middleweight. A move to 160 provides a more realistic track for Munguia to help him extend his career. The biggest draw 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 latch on to that vacant IBF belt at middleweight, he could restart the cycle of cautious matchups. He can hold a title, avoid the dangerous names, and milk his world champion status for a few more years of starring roles.
Munguia’s pressing style and physical strength may also carry over better at 160 than against bigger 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 a different 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 will have a field day.
Munguia didn’t really develop. He is still the same pressure fighter who eats three shots to land two. It works at 154 or 160 against smaller men, but at 168 those three shots he eats are life-changing.
