Nearly a year ago, Jaime Munguia thrilled boxing audiences with an epically unmatched performance that showcased his talents and unquestionable conditioning. One of the few questions that remain for the unbeaten super middleweight is whether now a step up in competition will result in a step up to a world title fight.
With a win on Saturday against hard-hitting John Ryder (32-6), at Phoenix’s Footprint Center (and streamed live on DAZN)—Munguia can answer that question. It’s his most difficult challenge to date, as the British 168-pounder is looking to rebound off a tough, hard-fought loss to a fighter many feel is the best in the sport today—Canelo Alvarez.
Alvarez is the name dropped by Munguia’s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, when it comes to making the next step forward. But right now, Munguia, while still undefeated, is confidently honed in on fine tuning his skills for another monster showing this weekend.
“Nobody’s perfect,” Munguia said through a translator. “We always have to learn we always have to keep learning. And at one point we will lose that perfection, so we have to keep on learning to keep moving forward.”
Munguia says he’s been a nonstop student of the boxing game since his first victory in 2013, as he explains to M&F. But even the current WBO silver super middleweight champion isn’t necessarily looking for a repeat of last June’s epic 12-round win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The brutal back and forth was as much physically draining as it was exciting—ESPN named it the 2023 Fight of the Year. The 27-year-old says the key to his conditioning is old-school running.
“I’ll run every day for an hour to an hour and a half,” Munguia says. “Then it’s some more conditioning, then boxing. That’s how we do it.”
In addition to roadwork, for this weekend’s fight, Munguia has also begun training with Freddie Roach, the legendary trainer who also worked with De La Hoya during his 2007 fight against Floyd Mayweather. Although his record has zero blemishes, Munguia says there were still some tweaks from the last fight that have been fixed, that he’s ready to show fight fans.
“Freddie has helped me polish a lot of things that I was already working on,” Munguia says. “He has made him almost perfect polish them off. And on Saturday you’re gonna see them.”
Prior to Saturday’s bout, Muscle & Fitness spoke with Munguia on what motivates him, how he’s preparing and how and cooking once the fight is over.
What’s the first thing you’ll need to do after weigh ins?
Right after weigh-ins I like to hydrate a lot. Like, a lot of electrolytes. I’ll eat a lot of oats and stuff that doesn’t make me feel too heavy because I still need to be ready for the fight. So I still have to keep an eye on what I’m eating, even after I passed the weigh in.
Have you had to focus on your diet during fight camp?
Not really. It’s been pretty normal for me. At camp I’m pretty ready and don’t really need to lose any weight.
Your last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko was brutal—and named ESPN’s Fight of the Year. How do you prepare conditioning wise to survive and thrive for 12 rounds?
You have to work really, really hard because your body needs to be ready for the punishment. You need to be ready to be good and well at fight time and just keep working hard in order to be ready.
What does getting punched like that for 12 rounds feel like?
Getting punched is my livelihood. You just get ready for it by preparing yourself through all the training leading up to the fight. That’ll get you ready for each and every punch.
What makes this fight against John Ryder different from your other fights?
There’s a lot of fighters who like to stay at a certain level. That’s not me. With this fight, I want to keep learning and learning, and now with Freddie, we’re better than before and are going to be ready for this fight.
What’s a day of training like for Jaime Munguia for this fight?
I wake up and run, then do some conditioning before breakfast. I’ll rest a little bit then by the evening I go back and it’s boxing.
How much sleep do you get during camp?
I’ll get seven to nine hours. Sometimes it’s six, but usually it’s seven or eight hours. That’s the norm.
What’s one drill that works best for you that every fighter should incorporate?
I’m used to running long distances. Not a whole lot, maybe an hour, hour and a half. It’s something that works for me, and I like to do it. I’d recommend everybody to do that.
I got this advice from Eric Morales, a former world champion and former trainer. He’d tell me that back in the day fighters didn’t train conditioning, all they did was run. They didn’t care about eating or anything—All they did was run. And that’s how they got to 15 rounds. So that’s why I do that. That’s why I love to run. If I run, when it comes to fighting I can go on and on and on.
What type of training do you dread the most?
I dread when we have to do sprints. It could be Wednesday or Thursday. I’ll wake up and feel good, and then I’ll remember that it’s sprint day, then it’s like, ugh, here we go again. That’s the one thing I don’t like.
Once the fight is over, what’s the first thing Jaime Munguia will be ordering?
I want to go back to Tijuana and eat some tacos. [laughs]