On January 27, John Ryder looks to move one step closer to a rematch with Canelo Alvarez should he defeat Jaime Munguia at the Footprint Center in Pheonix, Arizona, and he made it clear he will not be used as a stepping stone.
Ryder enters the bout with a 32-6 record with 18 wins via knockout since starting his professional career in September 2010 and prior to his last fight had lost once since 2017, making him a tough fighter to face which is what the Brit reminded Munguia of.
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“Munguia’s obviously coming to use me as a steppingstone,” Ryder told Secondsout.com. “I’ve got other plans. I want to make a statement.
“And, listen, I want to get my career back to the heights it needs to be, starting with Jaime Munguia. So, go in there, make a statement and hopefully get a rematch with Canelo.“
And Munguia seems up to the task, looking to set up his own shot at Canelo. The 27-year-old enters the bout eight years younger and ranked as the fourth-best middleweight in the world (The Ring) with a professional record of 42 fights, 42 wins and 33 wins by knockout.
So the Mexican also has a fantastic record, earned across three different weight classes, and will look to pick up his eighth win in the middleweight class since moving up in January 2020 when he TKO’d Gary O’Sullivan.
What can he learn from Canelo?
As mentioned, Ryder has previously stepped into the ring with Canelo and, as one might expect, he was handed another loss on his record in May 2023. He had challenged for the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring super-middleweight belts against the Mexican but lost via unanimous decision 120-7, 118-109 and 118-109.
Amazingly, despite being clearly overwhelmed, it had elements as an upset as Canelo was expected to knock Ryder out, which he didn’t do, despite the Brit suffering a broken nose.
So, ahead of his next bout, what did he learn from his brief moment in Guadalajara?
“I think if you can take the positives from the Canelo fight, I’ve stayed in there, I’ve dug deep and I’ve learned a lot of what Canelo does,” Ryder added. “Munguia’s a completely different fighter.
“He’s very much a volume puncher, whereas Canelo is very compact, tight, doesn’t waste nothing. But Jaime Munguia will come at you and throw punches all day.”
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