Jaime Aarón Munguía Escobedo (born 6 October 1996) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is world champion in two weight classes including the World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight title since May 2026, and previously the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight title from 2018 to 2019.
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Professional career
Light middleweight
Munguía turned professional in 2013 and compiled a record of 28–0 before challenging and beating American Sadam Ali on 12 May 2018 for the WBO junior middleweight title.
In his first defense on 21 July 2018, Munguía scored a unanimous decision victory over former light middleweight champion Liam Smith, with scores of 119–108, 117-110 and 116–111. Munguía had knocked Smith down in the sixth round.
Munguía scored a third-round technical knockout victory against Brandon Cook on the undercard of Canelo Álvarez vs Gennady Golovkin II on 15 September 2018 for another successful defense of his world title.
On 13 April 2019, Munguía returned to defend his title against mandatory challenger Dennis Hogan. Munguía won by controversial majority decision.
Munguía made the fifth defense of his WBO light middleweight title when he defeated Patrick Allotey by fourth-round technical knockout on 14 September 2019 in Carson, California.
Middleweight
Following Munguía's victory against Patrick Allotey, he vacated his WBO light middleweight title as he moved up to middleweight to face Gary O'Sullivan on 11 January 2020. Munguía won his middleweight debut via eleventh-round technical knockout.
In his second bout at middleweight, Munguía faced Tureano Johnson on 30 October 2020. In the sixth round of the fight, Munguía landed a right uppercut which caused a nasty gash in Johnson's lip. This caused a doctor's stoppage, giving Munguía the victory and the WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title. After the fight, he made clear his desire to win a world title at middleweight, saying "I want any of the 160-pound champs. Any [of them] would be great for me."
On 19 June 2021, Munguía faced former world title challenger Kamil Szeremeta who had taken the fight on short notice. Munguía won the fight via sixth-round corner retirement. Now ranked number 1 by the WBC and WBO, he said, "I would like to [fight for a world title] by the end of the year. If not, a battle between Mexico and Puerto Rico with Gabriel Rosado [who had knocked out Bektemir Melikuziev on the undercard], he looked really good tonight."
Munguía was scheduled to make his first WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title defense against the 41-fight veteran Gabriel Rosado on 13 November 2021, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Munguía entered the fight as the significant betting favorite, with most odds-makers having him -700 or -750 betting favorite. Munguía won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 119-109 and 117–111. He landed 328 total punches to Rosado's 154, and successfully connected with 50% of his power shots.
Munguía faced Jimmy Kelly at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California scoring three knockdowns before the referee stopped the bout in round five. At the immediate post-fight interview, Munguía called out Jermall Charlo seeking a world title.
Super middleweight
Munguía was scheduled to face Brit John Ryder in a super middleweight bout, on 27 January 2024, in the Footprint Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. He won the fight by TKO in the ninth round.
On 27 February 2024, it was reported that Munguía would challenge Canelo Álvarez for the undisputed super middleweight titles on 4 May in Las Vegas. The fight was confirmed on 12 March 2024. Álvarez dropped Munguía for the first time in his career in the fourth round. Álvarez won the fight by unanimous decision (117–110, 116–111, 115–112).
Munguia was scheduled to face Erik Bazinyan in a super middleweight bout at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ on 20 September 2024. He won the fight by TKO in the 10th round.
In September 2024, it was reported that Munguia would face Ronald Gavril on 14 December 2024 in Tijuana, Mexico. On 8 November 2024, it was announced that Munguia was instead scheduled to face Bruno Surace. In a major upset, Munguia lost the fight by KO in the 6th round.
In February 2025 it was reported that Munguia was "finalizing a deal" to face Bruno Surace in a rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 4 May 2025. The bout occurred on 4 May 2025 with Munguia winning by unanimous decision. Shortly after the bout, Munguia tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs; his b-sample also came back with a positive result. The investigation is still ongoing for potential disciplinary actions.
On 10 November 2025, Ring Magazine reported that Munguia was in negotiations to fight interim WBC champion Christian Mbilli (29–0–1, 24 KOs) in the first quarter of 2026. Following their draw on 13 September, an immediate rematch was ordered for Mbilli to fight Lester Martinez. Mbilli's promoter, Camille Estephan, stated that the plan was to fight Munguia before returning to the rematch with Martinez. In March 2026, it was announced that Munguia would challenge Armando Reséndiz for the WBA super middleweight title on May 2, 2026, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Munguía won by unanimous decision.