Jaime Munguia knew the importance of his main event bout Saturday night vs. John Ryder.
And he delivered.
Munguia improved to 43-0 with a ninth-round stoppage of Ryder in Phoenix. With the win, his 34th finish, the fighter might have just positioned himself for a future meeting with Canelo Alvarez.
“It will be a great fight among Mexicans,” Munguia said (thanks to ESPN for the quotes). “And if Canelo gives us a chance, it will be an honor to be in the same ring as him.”
Munguia stopped Ryder twice in the ninth round, forcing his corner to try to throw in the towel. Instead, it was the official at ringside who saw the move and called for an end to the fight super middleweight fight.
Ryder previously fought Alvarez, as the veteran went the distance with the champion. Alvarez also recorded just one knockdown compared to the four landed by Munguia.
Munguia threw over 460 punches and landed 31 percent with 101 of his landed strikes being considered power ones. His first knockdown came a minute into the second round.
Oscar Collazo defended his WBO strawweight belt with a third round TKO vs. Reyneriz Gutierrez and IBF women’s flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora stopped Christina Cruz to retain.
Canelo Alvarez Last Fought In September
Alvarez retained the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring super middleweight titles last September with a decision victory over Jermell Charlo. That pushed his career record to 60-2-2 and marked his third consecutive title defense.
One of those was vs. Ryder in Mexico in early 2023.
Keeping with his recent schedule, a return to the ring in May could be in order for Alvarez. He has fought in that month each of the past three years.
