Although John Ryder lost to Canelo Alvarez in his last fight, the valiant effort has led to victories that won’t be reflected on his record. 

For starters, Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) will get the chance to immediately rebound Saturday when he takes on Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) in a super middleweight bout at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on DAZN.

“I kind of somewhat came away as a winner. It's done my career a world of good in the aspect that I'm still aligned for big fights. That's why I'm here,” Ryder said during a media workout. “I'm definitely looking for the Canelo rematch. The biggest and best fight possible for me. I have to win this time [if given the opportunity for a rematch against Alvarez]. Not to get my nose broken, and to go in there and put on a show and take his belts.”

A Ryder-Alvarez rematch is highly unlikely, but the Brit can potentially be pitted against the likes of David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, David Morrell, Christian Mbilli, Erik Bazinyan, Diego Pacheco, and Edgar Berlanga if he has another respectable performance against Munguia – or even better, a win. 

Ryder has risen to the occasion in big fights; he scored wins against Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker in 2022.

“I believe so, yeah, that [I am a different fighter now than a couple of years ago]. I've learned a ton about myself,” said Ryder. “I wish I would have had that Canelo fight 10 years ago. I'm here now. The fire still burns deep.”

Against Alvarez, Ryder had an admirable showing despite suffering a knockdown and even won a couple of rounds in the second half of the fight that resulted in a unanimous decision defeat in the Mexican star’s homecoming fight in Jalisco in front of over 50,000 fans. 

Ryder will return to the road once again looking to pump the brakes on the ascending yet vulnerable Munguia, another fighter who’s looking for a crack at Alvarez. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.