Jaime Munguia passes on WBC eliminator against Sergiy Derevyanchenko

In an unsurprising move, Dan Rafael reports that Jaime Munguia will pass on his WBC-ordered final eliminator against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, scrapping a purse bid scheduled for this Friday. The Mexican young gun “is going in another direction.”

I usually side-eye fighters who turn down eliminators, but I’m honestly on board with this. Munguia (37-0, 30 KO) is already the WBO mandatory challenger, meaning the fight wouldn’t get him any closer to a title shot than he already is. Plus, he’s ostensibly got a fight with Gabe Rosado on the table, and that matchup’s pretty damn appealing after “King’s” thunderous knockout of Bektemir Melikuziev.

As for Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KO), who’s lost three of his last four to division standouts Daniel Jacobs, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Jermall Charlo, the WBC will presumably go down the rankings to find a new opponent. “The Technician” sits at #2 ahead of Chris Eubank Jr., Janibek Alimkhanuly, Maciej Sulecki, and Liam Williams.

UPDATE: Mauricio Sulaiman claims that he “accepted a request” to delay the Derevyanchenko fight until after the Rosado matchup.