Once his bruised, battered body healed, Sergiy Derevyanchenko hoped Jaime Munguia would give him a rematch.

A second bout between Mexico’s Munguia and Ukraine’s Derevyanchenko was discussed by their representatives in the aftermath of BoxingScene.com’s “Fight of the Year” for 2023. Ultimately, Munguia and his team decided to battle British southpaw John Ryder in Munguia’s first fight since his spectacular slugfest with Derevyanchenko 7½ months ago.

The 38-year-old Derevyanchenko nonetheless will watch Munguia-Ryder with great interest Saturday night because the longtime middleweight contender still wants his second shot at Munguia, who narrowly won their fan-friendly, 12-round super middleweight match on points.

“I want this 100 percent,” Derevyanchenko told BoxingScene.com. “I want the rematch. I don’t know if Munguia wants it. Maybe he doesn’t want it. I don’t know. I hope it happens.”

While Derevyanchenko would’ve preferred that Munguia chose him, the 2008 Olympian realizes that the Tijuana native didn’t schedule anything resembling a tune-up fight for his return from their brutal battle June 10 at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

London’s Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) edged former IBF/WBA middleweight champ Daniel Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs) by split decision and stopped previously unbeaten British super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) in back-to-back bouts in 2022. Those victories moved Ryder toward the biggest fight of his career – a shot at undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez last May 6 at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico.

Ryder displayed plenty of toughness against Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs), who broke Ryder’s nose late in the second round and dropped him with a left-right combination midway through the fifth round. A durable Ryder recovered enough to make the second half of their 12-round fight somewhat competitive, despite that he lost by wide distances on the cards of judges Jeremy Hayes (120-107), Gerardo Martinez (118-109) and Joseph Pasquale (118-109).

“Munguia has a tough fight,” Derevyanchenko said. “Munguia is the favorite for me, but Ryder is a tough fighter. I saw his fight when he won with Jacobs. Ryder, he has a big heart. He’s a tough fighter. We will see what happens.”

Most sportsbooks list Munguia as more than a 3-1 favorite to defeat Ryder in their 12-round non-title fight at Footprint Center in Phoenix. Munguia might fight Alvarez on May 4 if he conquers Ryder in the main event of DAZN’s four-fight stream from the home arena of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT).

Derevyanchenko, meanwhile, is recovering from a rib injury that caused the postponement of his own return to the ring, which was scheduled for January 6.

The Brooklyn-based Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10 KOs) was supposed to meet D’Mitrius Ballard (21-2-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC) on the Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Fredrick Lawson undercard nearly three weeks ago at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Ballard sustained an undisclosed injury and withdrew from their 10-round bout before Derevyanchenko suffered a rib injury that has sidelined him temporarily.

While he recovers, Derevyanchenko can take some solace from the boxing public’s reaction to how performed against Munguia.

“I feel appreciated from the people who see it as ‘Fight of the Year,’ ” Derevyanchenko said. “It was amazing to be part of this kind of show because that’s what boxing is about. That’s why people follow boxing. I’m happy to give this feeling to people. I always step into the ring to give people this feeling. I appreciate everyone who supported me in this moment.”

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