Home » Freddie Roach: [Jaime] Munguia Is Better Than What I Thought

Freddie Roach: [Jaime] Munguia Is Better Than What I Thought

Freddie Roach likes what he sees so far from Mexican boxer Jaime Munguia in their four-plus months of training.

Munguia will face British southpaw John Ryder in their 12-round super middleweight match on March 28 in Phoenix.

Munguia already “a complete fighter”

Roach, a Boxing Hall of Fame trainer, has been impressed that Munguia is already a “complete fighter” at just 27 years old.

“He’s better than what I thought, for sure,” Roach told BoxingScene.com. “He’s a more complete fighter and so forth.”

“You know, the comments about what he does well and what he doesn’t do well really don’t match up with what he is.”

Roach, an esteemed trainer of Filipino fighting legend Manny Pacquiao, also praised Munguia’s work ethic and hard skills.

“From day one, he’s done a lotta work,” Roach said. “He’s fun to work with.

“We’ve worked on combinations, changing his style, being more in an attack motion and not a counterpuncher. “

“And he’s doing very well. The first thing I hear about the guy is that he has very, very poor defense.”

“And then I said, ‘What are these people talking about? He’s got great offense, and that right there is a good defense.’”

“It’s not like he goes in there with his hands down and starts swinging with [his opponent].”

“He’s a good boxer and he has good footwork and his combinations are very, very good. I know that because sometimes he hits me on the chin.”

Munguia-Ryder recent matches

Munguia, who owns a 42-0, 33 KOs record, just came off a unanimous decision win against Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko last June 10.

Meanwhile, Ryder (60-2-2, 39 KOs) lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez last May 6.

Fight Odds

According to the M88 Mansion sportsbook, Munguia (1.251) is listed as the favorite to win the match over Ryder (4.000).

Roach also vouched that Munguia’s head movement and offensive prowess would pivot him to victory.

“I like when he’s busy,” Roach said. “He throws really good combinations, puts ‘em together very well and he has good movement.”

“He’s in and out, side to side, and I think the best thing he’s doing right now is head movement.

He has tremendous head movement. He’s making guys miss, miss, miss and making them pay.”