The maiden voyage for the new tandem featuring fighter Jaime Munguia and coach Freddie Roach will hit the road Jan. 27 when the undefeated super middleweight takes on John Ryder in Phoenix. 

The Tijuana, Mexico native Munguia recently ended a nine-fight run across four years with Hall of Fame fighter turned trainer Erik Morales.

Munguia’s Mexico-based co-promoter Fernando Beltran said Morales is running for Mayor of Tijuana and could no longer commit to coaching Munguia full time.

“Boxing is a sport that is jealous,” Beltran told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “You need to be in the sport 100 percent or not at all. Freddie is a dedicated trainer and always at the Wild Card all of the time.”

Roach has made his Hollywood, Calif.-based gym a globally known boxing landmark due to his decades-long work with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, and Munguia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, among countless others. 

“We're very confident in Freddie Roach and his corner. He has the experience. He has the knowledge. We're excited,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com and other media in an interview. “Jaime better be ready. It's going to be a tough, tough fight [against Ryder].” 

Roach will be tasked with taking the 27-year-old to the next level. 

Munguia is coming off a win in a war against Sergey Derevyanchenko last summer. Munguia was rocked and hurt multiple times and needed a final-round knockdown to sneak by with a unanimous decision win. 

Roach is not worried about Munguia’s weaknesses.

“There's a big thing out there that he has poor defense and so forth. He doesn't have poor defense. We work on those things every day. He's a complete fighter and that's why he's going to win the fight,” Roach told BoxingScene.com in an interview. 

“I think his work ethic is a lot better than most. He comes to the gym everyday wanting to work. We work really well together. I push him and he pushes me. We work the mitts together and a lot of combinations. People who say he's a single puncher and stuff like that are full of sh!t.”

Ryder is coming off a loss against Canelo Alvarez in 2023 and wins against Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker in 2022.

“I saw a lot of tape on Ryder. He's a decent fighter, but he's not as good as us,” said Roach.

Roach agreed when he was asked if Munguia would deliver a definitive performance against Ryder that would help enable a future fight with Alvarez. 

“A 100 percent yes. This will break the doors for us. We want the biggest and baddest guy out there next, and we'll see,” said Roach. “[Munguia] knocks [Ryder] out inside of eight rounds.” 

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.