Before a crowd of 10, 836 screaming fans from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, former world champion Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) sent a message to the super middleweight division in a dramatic fight where he stopped John “The Gorilla” Ryder (32-7, 18 KOs) in the ninth round.
Scheduled for 12-rounds, Munguia dropped Ryder four times – once in the second and fourth rounds respectively, and twice in the ninth round.
Ryder’s corner waved the white towel to end the fight after the fourth knockdown in the ninth while Ryder suffered punishment by the barrage of punches being landed by Munguia.
With the victory, Munguia took home the WBC silver super middleweight title.
“I’m really happy because I worked hard to get ready for this,” said Munguia. “I know a lot of people didn’t believe in me, and this is the result of hard work. We are ready for 168. You are correct; last time, I was just throwing punches like crazy, but this time, my timing was better. My timing was perfect. Ryder is a great fighter, and we are ready to keep on going. I’m motivated for the next fight, and it’s going to be better than this one, and it’s going to keep getting bigger. We want the best of the best in 168. We are going to be world champions.”
And the man with all of the belts is fellow Mexican, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Canelo is slated to return to the ring in May, with no opponent currently set.
“It would be a great fight amongst Mexicans, and if Canelo gives us the chance, it would be an honor to share the ring with him,” Munguia said.