After scoring a major upset win over Sadam Ali to capture the WBO junior middleweight title, Munguia will stay stateside for his first world title defense.
It was announced that Munguia will be defending his title against Liam Smith on July 21 at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. The fight will headline an HBO Boxing After Dark tripleheader that will also feature another world title fight. The fight was confirmed by Golden Boy Promotions, whose tweet announcing the card can be seen below.
Smith, who previously held the WBO 154-pound title until losing it to Canelo Alvarez in 2016, will be getting the opportunity to fight for the title he was originally supposed to fight for back in May against Ali but had to withdraw after suffering a skin condition that prevented him from getting fully prepared. That is when Munguia, who was previously rejected by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as Gennady Golovkin’s replacement opponent for his last fight on May 5, came in as Smith’s replacement and easily knocked out Ali to win the title.
The second world title fight will be Alberto Machado’s first WBA “regular” super featherweight title defense. Machado will face mandatory challenger Rafael Mensah in a fight that had been in talks for several months. Machado won the title last fall when he knocked out then-champion Jezreel Corrales on an HBO-televised fight.
The third fight of the July 21 card in Las Vegas will also feature undefeated middleweight contender Demetrius Andrade taking on 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Yamaguchi Falcao.
