Jermall Charlo vs. Maciej Sulecki to headline Showtime card June 18

Jermall Charlo won't be fighting Jaime Munguia after all.

The WBC middleweight champion will make a voluntary defense of his belt against one-time challenger Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in Houston, Charlo's hometown. A venue has not been determined.

Sulecki was Plan C for Charlo, who was in the running to end a long layoff by challenging Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight world championship on May 7 in Las Vegas. The Mexican superstar ultimately chose to face Russia's Dmitry Bivol for a shot to become a two-time light heavyweight world titlist that evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Both Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) and Munguia (39-0, 30 KOs) agreed to terms for a main event show in June or July. However, Golden Boy presented a joint pay-per-view between Showtime and DAZN, which was rejected. Showtime also offered a rematch clause, which included a rematch compromise. For instance, if Munguia won the first fight, Golden Boy would control the rematch and can take the fight to DAZN or any other network of their choice.

Ultimately, Charlo-Munguia fell through the cracks and Charlo-Sulecki rose from the depths of non-existence.

Poland's Sulecki (30-2, 11 KOs) unsuccessfully challenged Demetrius Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) for the WBO middleweight title, dropping a unanimous decision in June 2019. He received the same fate when he fought former IBF middleweight champ Daniel Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs).

In Charlo's most recent fight, he was roughed up by Mexican contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-5-2, 23 KOs) last June 19 in Houston, but still managed to win via unanimous decision.

Tijuana's Munguia, who is the number one contender for Charlo's championship, is left to search for a new dancing partner. He also had an opportunity to fight for the vacant WBO interim title against Kazakhstan's Janibek Alimkhanuly, but his handlers failed to adhere to the WBO's protocol once the 10-day period for voluntary negotiations with Alimkhanuly's promoter, Top Rank, concluded, which left the WBO furious. Instead of calling a purse bid, the WBO tossed Munguia out of the picture, and instead ordered a fight between No.2-ranked contender Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs) and No.5-rated Danny Dignum (14-0-1, 8 KOs).

Like Munguia's co-promoters, Golden Boy and Zanfer Boxing, representatives for Alimkhanuly and Dignum were allocated 10 days to reach an agreement. If they fail to come to terms, the WBO will order a purse bid hearing.