Jaime Munguia returns to the ring with much on the line this Saturday, January 27th. The popular Mexican star Munguia is fighting the UK’s John Ryder in a twelve-round super middleweight fight with a possible shot against undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez being targeted.
That’s a fight that Golden Boy and Munguia have wanted for years. Some believe that Munguia’s entire career has been carefully guided and based on the sole purpose of getting the Canelo payday.
That obviously would be pathetic, but there’s a lot of money in a fight with Canelo, so if that’s what Munguia’s career is all about, you can’t blame him.
Munguia-Ryder will be shown live on DAZN from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Munguía’s Momentum
The former WBO 154-lb champion Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) and Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) will battle it out. Munguia is coming off a big win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko last summer in a narrow 12-round unanimous decision: the 2023 ‘Fight of the Year.’
Munguia almost lost that fight against the 38-year-old Derevyanchenko and needed a 12th-round knockdown to cement the victory.
A rematch would have been better for Munguia than moving on to a fight with Ryder, but with the trouble that he had against Derevyanchenko, it was too risky. If Munguia doesn’t get a knockdown in the rematch, he will probably lose a second fight with him.
Ranked #2 WBC at 168, Munguia is in a position to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his titles on May 4th. However, he needs to pass the Ryder test, preferably with a knockout, to have a chance at getting the title shot.
Munguia needs the KO, but that would require him to put his chin on the line. Ryder isn’t the biggest puncher, but he hits hard enough to hurt Munguia.
Ryder: A Formidable Test
‘The Gorilla Ryder has a huge amount of experience, with a recent loss to Canelo last year, a win over Daniel Jacobs a controversial loss to Callum Smith.
This is not an easy fight for Jaime, and he’ll need to beat Ryder conclusively for him to have a title shot at Canelo. If Munguia can’t get a knockout of Ryder, he at least needs to defeat him in the same Canelo did last May. Canelo won by the scores 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112.