Oscar De La Hoya considers John Ryder “a live dog” in his fight with Jaime Munguia on Saturday night in Phoenix.

“The Golden Boy” believes, though, that Munguia is ready to challenge Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez later this year. Even though Ryder is a southpaw who has fought a higher level of opposition, including Alvarez, this is the type of fight De La Hoya expects Munguia to win at this point in his career.

Tijuana’s Munguia edged Sergiy Derevyanchenko thanks to a 12th-round knockdown in his last bout, but Ukraine’s Derevyanchenko was a career-long middleweight before he moved up to the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds to meet Munguia.

Ryder, though three inches shorter than the 6-foot Munguia, has competed at super middleweight for the past seven years. London’s Ryder also demonstrated admirable toughness versus Alvarez, who broke Ryder’s nose late in the second round and dropped the courageous challenger with a left-right combination just before the midway mark of the fifth round May 6 at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico.

The left-handed Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) made the second half of his fight with Alvarez competitive, which is among the reasons De La Hoya considers Ryder a formidable opponent for Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs).

“It’s about getting the big names this year,” De La Hoya told Golden Boy Promotions’ Beto Duran before a press conference Thursday in Phoenix. “And obviously, fighting Saturday night against a very, very tough John Ryder, winning this fight will obviously catapult him to that level where he belongs, that championship level. You know, and we’re talking about the Canelos, we’re talking about the Benavidezes of this world.

“I actually just spoke to Benavidez yesterday. And he’s out in Guadalajara, looking for Canelo. So, we strongly feel that the 168-pound division is loaded, it’s exciting and it’s about just making the matches happen. And this is why you see on the podium three promoters. You have my good friend, [Fernando] Beltran, and Eddie Hearn, who has been doing a great job as well. And we’re here to work together and bring the boxing fans the best fights.”

Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs), who acrimoniously parted ways with Golden Boy Promotions three years ago, reportedly is interested in facing Munguia when the undisputed super middleweight champion returns to the ring May 4. Munguia, who is co-promoted by Golden Boy and Zanfer Boxing, would be a marketable opponent for Alvarez the day before “Cinco de Mayo.”

De La Hoya has confidence in the 27-year-old Munguia, enough that he considers the former WBO junior middleweight champ capable of winning the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight crowns from Alvarez.

“He has that championship pedigree,” De La Hoya said. “He’s an incredible talent. He has all the experience in the world, and now it’s time to step it up. Now it’s time to move on to the championship-caliber fights and challenge the very best. And we start this Saturday, here at the Footprint Center in Arizona.”

DAZN will stream Munguia-Ryder as the main event of a five-fight broadcast from Footprint Center, the home arena of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. DAZN’s coverage is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.