Promoter Eddie Hearn hinted that John Ryder should consider retirement following his ninth-round technical knockout loss to the young gun Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) last Saturday night at the Footprint Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
Hearn’s Hesitation
Hearn questions whether the version of Ryder (32-7, 18 KOs) that fought Canelo Alvarez last May in Guadalajara, Mexico, would have been dropped by Munguia in the second round of their super middleweight contest.
Munguia nailed Ryder with a straight right hand that dropped him like he’d been shot with a 50-caliber rifle. The 35-year-old Ryder looked like he had never seen the punch coming, putting him down hard.
From that point, it was all downhill for the grizzled veteran Ryder, as he focused on fighting off the ropes, hoping to counter Munguia, and getting worked over.
Financial Crossroads
Hearn points out that Ryder has made his money and has a house now. He wouldn’t want to see him stay around the game and take punishment.
Hearn didn’t say that Ryder’s paydays would likely drop off significantly after this defeat because he wouldn’t be fighting any of the big names to earn him the kind of dough he made against Canelo and Munguia. That would be a bitter pill for Ryder to swallow to return to the smaller money fights against little-known opposition.
“He had a nightmare start. He got dropped in the second round. It wasn’t a heavy knockdown, but he still got dropped,” said Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV, talking about his fighter John Ryder after his loss to Jaime Munguia last Saturday night.
“The second knockdown [in round four] was balance, but it was still a knockdown because it was a punch. He squared his feet, but he wasn’t hurt then. He was hurt by the last knockdown [in round nine]. It hit him on the temple, and it was a delayed reaction,” Hearn continued.
That was the one that caused the concern to the corner to stop the fight. The knockdown in the second round. Would the John Ryder pre-Canelo have been dropped there? I don’t know. We always want to see a fighter physically well and with as much money as possible.
A Tough Call
He’s [Ryder] kind of reached that stage where he’s got his house, he’s got his money, and you don’t want to see him take punishment,” said Hearn about the 35-year-old Ryder.
