With plans for WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia to defend his title in Mexico this April, the governing body is looking to have Munguia fight his mandatory challenger next.
The WBO sent out orders to both Munguia and top contender Dennis Hogan to start negotiations for a title fight. The order was made on January 31 and both parties have 30 days from that day to secure a fight, or else a purse bid would be issued. Should a purse bid be made, the minimum bid would be $200,000.
During last year's WBO Convention in Panama, officials ruled that Hogan would be named the mandatory challenger provided that he win his fight against Jamie Weetch this past December in Australia. Hogan won the fight by unanimous decision, retaining the IBF Pan Pacific and WBO Intercontinental junior middleweight titles. Hogan, who sports a 28-1-1 record, has won six straight fights since losing to Jack Culcay in 2015 in an interim WBA title fight.
Munguia has held the WBO title since defeating Sadam Ali in May 2015. Munguia has made three successful title defenses, including one on January 26 in Houston when he defeated Takeshi Inoue by unanimous decision. That fight headlined a Golden Boy Promotions card that was streamed on DAZN.
In the days after Munguia's win over Inoue, Munguia's promoter Fernando Beltran stated that the plan would be for the Mexican champion to defend his world title at Arena Monterrey on April 13 although no opponent has been named.