Jaime Munguia never loses sight of the opponent in front of him.

There remains a part of him, though, that wishes his upcoming fight on June 11 was instead the title challenge he sought one week later.

Tijuana’s Munguia (39-0, 31KOs) spent weeks waiting for the call that all terms were reached for a shot at WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo. In a rare occurrence, a fight fell apart despite both fighters and all involved parties agreeing on the weight, date, location and financial terms. The one item that produced a stalemate was Zanfer Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions—Munguia’s co-promoters—seeking to have DAZN involved in an event for which Showtime was already footing the bill.

With it went a clear shot at becoming a two-division titlist, with the former WBO junior middleweight champ instead facing England’s Jimmy ‘Kilrain’ Kelly (26-2, 10KOs). The fight headlines a June 11 DAZN show from Honda Center in Anaheim, California, as opposed to challenging for the WBC belt one week later in Houston.

“I was a little sad over how it all turned out,” Munguia admitted to BoxingScene.com. “It was a big fight for me and it would have been a big fight for boxing.

We both agreed to the fight and I believe the promoters all agreed to the fight as well. Unfortunately, it came down to what network would air the fight.”

The tradeoff for Munguia is getting to enjoy a level of ring activity reminiscent of the breakneck schedule enjoyed during his junior middleweight title reign.

The unbeaten 25-year-old will fight for the fourth time in 51 weeks and fifth overall spanning 20 months since the pandemic. Munguia last fought in a third-round knockout of unbeaten D’Mitrius Ballard this past February in his Tijuana hometown, marking his fourth knockout win in five fights since moving up to middleweight at the start of 2020.

“I really enjoy staying active,” noted Munguia, who crammed five title defenses into a 14-month period during his WBO 154-pound reign. “It’s a blessing to be this active after we just came through a pandemic.

“I feel like my career is back to where it was when I first won the world title. I’m just happy to be able to fight every three or four months. The hope is that by the end of the year, I am in a fight either for the middleweight title or against one of the division’s big names.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox