Jaime Munguía (43-0, 34 KOs) made a statement by destroying John Ryder (32-7, 18 KOs) in a ninth-round TKO win in their headliner on Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Munguia used his superior hand speed, work rate, and pressure from the first round, to batter ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder, who looked out of his class against the Mexican fighter.
After being dropped in rounds two and four, Ryder mounted a comeback in the sixth, landing hard counter shots and jabs that made Munguia cautious about attacking him the way he’d done earlier.
Things fell apart for Ryder in the ninth when Munguia landed a scorching right hand straight down the pipe that put him down hard on the canvas.
Ryder looked hurt when he got back to his feet. He appeared unsteady on his feet when the referee looked him over. Smelling blood, Munguia then went on the attack, landing hard punches that put Ryder down for the second time in the round.
Like a trooper, Ryder got up at the count of eight and fought valiantly, and landed a couple of hard counters to the head of Munguia. However, Ryder’s corner threw the towel at that moment, and the fight was promptly stopped. Referee Wes Melton then stopped the fight at 1:25 of the ninth.
The 35-year-old Ryder fought as well he could for his age, and what he was going up against in the younger, faster and busier Munguia. It looked like Ryder bulked up for this fight because he wasn’t this big last May when he lost to Canelo.
The extra size didn’t seem to help Ryder’s performance because he was too bulky and not able to maneuver quickly enough to land shots on Munguia.
After the fight, Munguia expressed interest in fighting Canelo Alvarez next on May 4th. If David Benavidez or Jermall Charlo don’t get the shot at Canelo, Munguia would be an excellent third option.
Benavidez is more deserving of a fight with Canelo, but it’s believed that he’s being saved for September.
If Munguia doesn’t get the fight with Canelo, it would be nice for him to challenge David Morrell Jr. for his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title.
The 25-year-old Morrell Jr. isn’t old like Ryder, and he’s a lot taller and stronger. If Munguia is feeling brave, he can fight Morrell and face someone who’s not old. Munguia’s previous opponent was 38-year-old Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
