By Elliot Worsell
COMPARISONS with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are nothing new in the world of Jaime Munguia, yet never will the Mexican have felt such scrutiny and the need for favourable comparisons than last night (January 27) in Phoenix, Arizona.
That’s the deal to which you agree when deciding to face an opponent Alvarez has only just beaten and Munguia will have been only too aware of this going into his super-middleweight fight against John Ryder. He will have no doubt watched his countryman defeat Ryder last May and will have been conscious, too, of the effort Ryder produced in denying Alvarez what many felt beforehand was an inevitable stoppage win. Moreover, Munguia, having seen Alvarez comfortably beat Ryder but fail to put much of a dent of him, will have known that to now pursue Ryder as an opponent himself would only make sense if he could then better Alvarez’s result.
That, of course, is no easy task. Ryder, after all, is not only improving at 35 years of age, but was no doubt encouraged by what he did against Alvarez in May. That night, despite being written off by just about everybody, Ryder showed that he belonged in the ring with a world-class fighter and that he was at some stage deserving of another opportunity.
This, for him, is precisely what Munguia represented in Phoenix. It was another chance for Ryder to fly to America and try to upset the odds by defeating one of the sport’s emerging stars. For Munguia, meanwhile, it was not enough just to prevent this from happening and therefore keep his unbeaten record intact. He will have also wanted to prove a point, send a message, and ensure that those comparisons with Alvarez are, if just for a brief period, very much favourable.
Jaime Munguia (Getty Images)
This Munguia managed to achieve, too, stopping Ryder in the ninth round, having floored him a total of four times along the way. It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, but perfection is never the goal with a fighter like Munguia, particularly in a fight like the one against Ryder, 32-7 (18). A no-win situation in theory, the 27-year-old will have realised that the most important thing was to make a statement and in the end secure a result that looked impressive on paper.
In achieving this, Munguia, working now with Freddie Roach, certainly showed new facets to his game. His jab, for example, was busier than normal and possessed a purpose that hasn’t always been there. He was also calmer at times, yet never at the expense of his work-rate or intensity, two things that make him such a problem at super-middleweight.
We know he can punch. Indeed, he has now stopped eight of his last 10 opponents. But the best thing about Munguia’s display against Ryder was his ability to pick the right punches at the right time, as well as his ability to know when to hit the gas pedal and when to ease off.
In round two, for example, he nailed Ryder with two consecutive right hands, the second of which put the Brit down on the canvas for the first time in the fight. It was a legitimate knockdown, of that there was no doubt, yet Ryder didn’t seem particularly hurt by the shot and was therefore quick to get to his feet.
Munguia tries to finish Ryder (Getty Images)
At this point, Munguia looked the bigger and stronger of the two and had no real difficulty claiming the centre of the ring. It was from this position he would rake out his jab and look to line up an opening for his right hand. He could also bully Ryder whenever Ryder stepped towards him in an effort to land something on the inside.
This Ryder did a couple of times in the third, even landing a good left cross and left uppercut at one stage. There was little power in these shots, it seemed, but by virtue of getting within range and landing something there was reason for Ryder to gain confidence. There was more confidence to be gained, too, whenever he waited for Munguia to attack and cocked his own counter right hook, ready to unleash it should the Mexican make a mistake.
It led to a nice contrast of styles, no question, and after three rounds the punch stats reflected this. Munguia had landed 42 of 152 punches thrown during those first three rounds, whereas Ryder had landed 22 of 79. Both were landing at connect percentage of 28%, with Ryder the more economical and Munguia, as always, the busier.
That said, the pace did slow a bit in the fourth round, which suited Ryder. Finally, he could take the centre of the ring and settle down a bit. Finally, he was able to poke out his jab and look for ways of setting up his own attacks.
Perhaps, in a sense, it could be argued that he got too relaxed in the fourth, because not long after finding his feet and grabbing some control in the contest Ryder walked into a Munguia jab and found himself on the canvas for the second time. Like the first knockdown, it appeared one more of the flash variety, with Ryder’s feet square and his balance gone, but in terms of swinging the round and momentum in Munguia’s favour it was no less frustrating.
More than that, with each knockdown scored Munguia’s belief that he could punch through Ryder and hurt him only increased. In the fifth, for instance, he nailed Ryder with a vicious roundhouse right while Ryder was against the ropes and committed to this punch as though it would be the last punch he would need. That Ryder somehow then ate it up, apparently unaffected, said more about Ryder’s durability than Munguia’s arrogance. Ryder, to his credit, even came back with a left cross of his own a few seconds later.
Jaime Munguia celebrates stopping John Ryder (Getty Images)
Maybe around that time Ryder was simply warming up. Warming up to the size of the task. Warming up to the power in Munguia’s fists. Clearly, by the sixth, he could sense an opportunity, that’s for sure. Often he would land sharp jabs and right hooks and also in this round he made good use of his small stature, frequently coming up with punches from a low position which shocked Munguia and had him momentarily confused.
This period of success continued for Ryder in the seventh as well. Now he held his right hand lower, in what can only be seen as an image of confidence, and now he had no problem claiming the centre of the ring on account of Munguia dropping his own output. Those two rounds, in fact, the sixth and seventh, were rounds Ryder won, which says a lot for not only Ryder’s performance in Phoenix but the speed with which Munguia then wrestled back control and finished the fight.
It started, this onslaught, with a massive right hand thrown with Ryder on the ropes in the eighth. This shot, unlike the ones that previously put Ryder down, appeared to genuinely hurt the southpaw and although he rallied back well, soon landing a smart right hook of his own, there was a feeling that something had been knocked out of him by that eye-catching Munguia shot.
Indeed, just 20 seconds into the ninth another Munguia right landed on Ryder, somewhere around the top of the head, and he was down for the second time. This time, too, the reaction to being put down was different. He was, for one, slower to get up. He was also dazed.
Munguia, meanwhile, was relentless. Upon the restart he landed another right hand, followed by an unnecessary left hook to the body, which again caused Ryder to be counted. By now, knowing the end was probably near, Munguia could be seen vaulting the ring post and celebrating with his fans. By now Ryder’s corner, led by Tony Sims, wanted the fight to be called off, only this, the calling off of the fight, would take longer than expected, with the referee, Wes Melton, unaware of Ryder’s corner until, at the 1:25 mark, he became aware of it and duly saved the beaten man.
It is often said that comparison is the thief of joy and it’s likely for this reason Jaime Munguia, now 43-0 (34), will have done all he could to ignore Canelo Alvarez’s fight against John Ryder until able to say with a straight face that he had bettered the result. For John Ryder, on the other hand, there is only one thief of joy and he goes by the name of Jaime Munguia.
Jaime Munguia celebrates stopping John Ryder (Getty Images)