Jaime Munguia had plenty to say about his plans for the upcoming year.
Perhaps the loudest message he sent was his refusal to mention or chase after Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
It’s not that the unbeaten Tijuana native isn’t keen on a shot at the super middleweight championship versus his countryman. More so, Munguia has every intention to carve out his own path—one that he firmly believes to include a title shot, though just not where he has to clout-chase his way to the top.
The first step is a crossroads bout versus England’s John Ryder, whom Munguia faces atop a January 27 DAZN show from Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
“That is what I will continue to do, fight to earn the right to get those big fights,” Munguia said during a media day in Los Angeles to formally announce the event. “We are very excited to have a big 2024. We look forward to facing John Ryder. After that, we look forward to the big fights and become a two-division champion.”
The road to that destination obviously goes through Guadalajara’s Alvarez (60-2-2, 39KOs), the division’s undisputed champion.
Munguia (42-0, 33KOs) is the number-one contender with the WBO but not yet identified as the mandatory challenger. The sanctioning body advised Golden Boy Promotions to keep Munguia—a former WBO junior middleweight titlist—active and not just have him sit on a ranking, since such a fight won’t be ordered until next November at the earliest.
Golden Boy founder and chairman Oscar De La Hoya made a point to mention Alvarez’s name throughout Tuesday’s press conference. It was fair to address, given the Mexican superstar defeated Ryder (32-6, 18KOs) via twelve-round decision this past May 6 in Zapopan, just outside his hometown.
Ryder has not fought since that night. That means Munguia’s performance will be naturally compared to Alvarez’s lopsided win, though inability to close the show versus the tough-as-nails Londoner.
Munguia is fine with that; he endured similar feedback in his Fight of the Year-level decision win over former title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko this past June. The bout was his lone ring appearance of 2023 but also proved his ability to overcome adversity as he rallied to score a dramatic 12th round knockdown to seal the win.
The decision to accept a fight with Ryder is merely a next step in what he hopes to be a year that validates all the earlier career accolades and proves that he belongs among the very best.
“I don’t mean any disrespect to John Ryder,” noted Munguia. “He is a tremendous fighter, we are just confident that we can beat him. If that happens, then will continue to look for the biggest fights possible.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox