John Ryder believes he will meet another top-level fighter, Jaime Munguia, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 27, live worldwide on DAZN, but says the undefeated Mexican has weaknesses he can exploit .
Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) returns to action following his valiant effort against Canelo Alvarez in Guadalajara, Mexico, in September. He now heads to Phoenix against former undefeated super welterweight king and defending WBC silver super middleweight champion Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs).
Munguia thrilled boxing fans in his last fight with Sergiy Derevyanchenko in June, with a 12th-round knockdown proving the difference. Ryder knows that Munguía is considering his own clash with Canelo, but ‘El Gorila’ believes that Derevyanchenko exposed flaws in Munguía’s game that he can expose.
“Jaime won fight of the year last year and I’m sure this fight can be a fight of the year candidate for 2024,” Ryder said. “He has an incredible record, 42-0, and he has the carrot in the fight with Canelo, like I had against Zach Parker. That adds pressure, you know he’s potentially next so you have to go out and produce, so now it’s up to him. I have had my chance with Canelo, I doubt I will have another if I beat Munguía, but that is the goal, to be in the best and biggest fights possible.
“I rate him, I think his record is not padded but he has been well maneuvered, in his last fight with Sergiy he showed some vulnerabilities, he made a change of trainer to Freddie Roach and that could be a good thing, it may not, we’ll see. I know what he brings to the table, he takes a lot of shots and he takes them with bad intentions, but that’s when I think I can take advantage of him.
“Sergiy gave him all the problems in the world last time, the last round came and he overcame him and the scorecards showed it. So I hope that the fight is judged fairly, that I get a fair roll of the dice and that’s all I can ask for.”
