Even though it seems like Jaime Munguia's been around forever, he's still only 27 years old and is just rounding into his athletic prime. He's built a sterling 42-0 record with 33 knockouts and stands now on the precipice of stardom. He's hardly a household name in the boxing space, yet alone to the outside world, but he's exciting, engaging and, most importantly, in a division where there are plenty of opportunities for big fights.
His new trainer, Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, did a two-week, get-to-know-you training camp with Munguia last summer. The point was to determine whether they'd be compatible working together. Both were comfortable and excited by their prospects. They started camp shortly after American Thanksgiving in November to prepare for Munguia's fight Saturday in Phoenix at the Footprint Center against John Ryder. The bout will be streamed on DAZN.
Roach was excited by what he saw during that early work together.
"He has great combinations and when he throws those, he's overwhelming," Roach said. "[He is] a great combination puncher and I like that he's very busy."
The top dog at welterweight is superstar Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed champion. But the division also includes formidable foes like David Benavidez, David Morrell, Caleb Plant, Jermall Charlo and others.
Munguia is a solid -480 favorite at William Hill sports book, with Ryder at +360.
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is optimistic that Munguia will get past Ryder and take that longest, hardest step into the true big-time.
"This Saturday, the whole world stands in front of Jaime Munguia," De La Hoya said. "If he can win: Championship fights, pay-per-view stardom and a place on the pound-for-pound list are all in reach."
The odds reflect that public thinking about Munguia, but Ryder is a veteran who has been in there with vastly superior opposition. That's the one edge he has on Munguia, and it's significant.
He's coming off of a 12-round drubbing by Alvarez in May. and realizes he needs a win on Saturday to continue earning significant paydays and facing top-level opponents.
"It's been a fight long in the pipeline and I'm glad we're fighting," Ryder said. "It's a fight I feel like I needed since the Canelo defeat, and I want to continue operating at the level I've been operating at. This is the fight to kick me on, and push me in my career."
Roach, though, believes Munguia is ready for a break-out. He's largely been moved cautiously, but Roach has seen nothing in the time they've been together to make him believe there was a reason for that.
And Munguia has the one thing that often separates good champions for great ones: Power.
His 33 KOs in 42 fights, all wins, would suggest that but boxing being what it is, it's who you knock out as much as how many. If you can punch and you're fighting under-matched opponents all the time, you're going to rack up the knockouts.
But the better fighters are more durable, more difficult to hit and understand how to survive the rough times in a bout.
Still, Munguia has shown Roach he knows how to finish.
"He definitely has power, yes," Roach said. "He is a big puncher. When he hits guys clean, he knows them out. He hit one guy in sparing and knocked him out for 37 seconds. He wasn't out totally but he was just so woozy and couldn't [continue]. His power is real."