Talks to match middleweight champion Jermall Charlo against Mexican star Jaime Munguia in July have collapsed over the U.S. broadcast platform, sources told ESPN.
Charlo, who is aligned with Al Haymon's PBC, and Munguia, who is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, agreed on financial terms for each boxer, sources said, but the broadcast rights became a sticking point in an increasingly fractured sport.
Showtime, one of PBC's two broadcast partners (along with Fox), was set to televise the 160-pound title fight on pay-per-view, sources said. However, Golden Boy insisted that its partner, DAZN, be involved with the stateside telecast.
PBC offered Golden Boy the TV rights in Mexico and the U.K., where DAZN is popular. However, Golden Boy officials didn't respond by a noon PT deadline Friday to close the deal, sources said.
The proposed deal included a rematch clause, per sources, that guaranteed Charlo the option to secure an immediate return bout if he lost. DAZN would own the sole broadcast rights to the Charlo-Munguia 2, sources said.
"Finalizing Charlo vs Munguia is top priority," De La Hoya said Saturday on Twitter. "Golden Boy remains committed to our partner DAZN. [DAZN] understands the magnitude of this fight and is willing and able to collaborate with [Showtime] to get this done. I hope Showtime is on board."
With the talks broken off, the WBC has ordered a Tuesday purse bid for a middleweight title eliminator between Munguia and Carlos Adames (who is with PBC), sources said. If Munguia wins, he'll become the mandatory title challenger to Charlo. Ostensibly, the rights to Charlo-Munguia could be auctioned off later this year.
In the interim, Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) will fight someone else this summer on Showtime, sources said, his fifth consecutive fight on the platform.
It's rare for championship-level boxers to compete on different platforms, but it does happen occasionally. PBC's Shawn Porter challenged Terence Crawford for a welterweight title on ESPN+ pay-per-view in November.
In June 2019, PBC's Andy Ruiz Jr. challenged Anthony Joshua for the heavyweight title on DAZN, and after scoring the upset victory, defended that title on DAZN in December 2019.
In this instance, PBC has the champion and wanted the fight on Showtime PPV.
Charlo, ESPN's No. 1 middleweight, is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Juan Macias Montiel in June. Jermall, who is 31, is the twin brother of unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo.
Munguia (39-0, 31 KOs), an aggressive power-puncher from Tijuana, has competed on DAZN in his past eight fights. The 25-year-old scored a unanimous-decision victory over Gabe Rosado in November, his career-best win. Munguia followed up with a third-round TKO of D'Mitrius Ballard last month.
Charlo and Munguia are both former 154-pound champions.