In a rare fit of conscience, the WBA has ordered a pair of its champions to face their mandatory challengers, giving welterweight titlist Teofimo Lopez and super middleweight titlist Jaime Munguia 30 days to negotiate with Jack Catterall and Bektemir Melikuziev.
Lopez (23-2, 13 KO) cruised past Rolly Romero for the belt exactly one month ago today and swiftly set his sights on a unification bout with WBC titlist Ryan Garcia, with the two reportedly discussing a meeting in February or March of next year. On paper, this order figures to derail that, but you’ll recall that the WBA explicitly ordered an inactive Romero to fight the winner of Catterall’s (33-2, 14 KO) “world” title bout with Shakhram Giyasov, only to turn around and let Lopez crash the party.
Catterall has been adamant that he’ll not step aside again, so we’ll see who caves. Him against Lopez doesn’t promise an enjoyable fight, but it could be an interesting once, as the counter-savvy “Gato” offers many of the stylistic banana peels that have bedeviled “The Takeover” in the past.
Interesting, Lopez claims that WBA head honcho Gilberto Mendoza personally assured him they wouldn’t call for the Catterall fight. This runs in contrast to Mendoza’s very public Twitter post explicitly saying the opposite last July. Lopez could just be lying, but Mendoza is a standout mendacious grifting freak in a business full of them, so who knows.
“Bek the Bully” (17-1, 11 KO) has been owed a shot for 16 months thanks to edging out Darius Fulghum in a final eliminator two Mays ago. The WBA reportedly demanded that Jose Armando Resendiz fight Melikuziev in his first defense, only to once again roll out the red carpet for Munguia (46-2, 35 KO) to cut the line and run Resendiz over.
This one could be fun; two skilled, flawed fighters with heavy hands. No telling whether it goes through, as Chris Mannix alleges that Munguia is “penciled in” for Halloween, presumably on the Canelo-Mbilli show, and is looking for a “gimme.” Previous reporting named Keiber Gonzalez (BoxRec no. 101) and Thomas O’Toole (BoxRec no. 42) as potential dance partners, who are certainly more Munguia’s usual speed.
