By Shaun Brown

You spend years waiting for big fights and then suddenly they don’t stop coming your way. By the time January 28 comes along John Ryder will have fought Daniel Jacobs, Canelo Alvarez, and Jaime Munguia in just under two years.

In this interview with Boxing News the 35-year-old gave his opinion on facing Munguia next, working with a mindset coach, the impact of Covid, and how it feels being at the tail end of his career.

BN: So, you’ve got the Munguia fight on January 27 – how do you feel?

JR: I’m buzzing. I’ve made no secret that I didn’t want to be dropping back down to six-and-eight-round fights. I wanted to continue going at the pace I’ve been going at. Big fights, big names, and I’m buzzing.

This is the fight I wanted because I wanted a big fight against Munguia, [Gennadiy] Golovkin or [Caleb] Plant. Something to really get my teeth into. I had an extended break after the Canelo fight in May. That was always the initial plan, to have a bit longer off. It was a tough camp, a tough fight, a gruelling fight, but [I] had a good time off afterwards.

It’s nice to potentially start 2024 off as a busy year. Get out [at the] end of January, hopefully all being well get out [at] the middle of the year and [the] end of the year. It could be my busiest year for some time.

BN: Was there ever a possibility of getting a fight against Golovkin?

JR: Not that I’m aware of. I was getting a few messages from a Golovkin fan page that was adamant he was going to fight again. As a fan, I hope he does. It would have been an honour to share the ring with him. I’m a massive Golovkin fan. But if he decides to go out now (retire), then fair play to him. What a career he’s had.

BN: What do you know about Jaime Munguia?

JR: Good fighter. [Former] light-middleweight world champion. [He] beat a great fighter in Liam Smith. I’d say that’s his standout victory at the moment. I don’t want to talk out of turn [because] I’ve not asked Liam the question, but I don’t know where his head was at in the Munguia fight. Maybe it’s a question I should ask him. I think Munguia’s good, he’s durable, he’s beaten Smith, and we know what he’s capable of.

BN: I was looking at your Boxrec and noticed on December 8 it had been 11 years since you fought Eamonn O’Kane.

JR: Eleven years? Bloody hell. It’s flown by.

BN: Is your career going too fast? Is it passing you by?

JR: It’s clear I’m at the tail-end of my career. Like I said earlier, I just want to have the biggest and best fights. I’m not here for a long time; I’m here for a good time. Each fight could be your last. I want to fight the biggest and the best and I don’t want to be going out in six-and-eight-rounders. I want to go out in a big fight against a big name in a 12-round contest.

BN: Does it feel like you’ve had 38 fights?

JR: At times it does. At times it’s hard. A year is a long time. You think about the years during lockdown when it was one fight a year. A time wasted. But the fights I’ve had since lockdown: Danny Jacobs, Zach Parker, Canelo, and now I’m about to fight Jaime Munguia. I’ve had a great two years post-lockdown. I really can’t complain.

A lot of people didn’t have a career after lockdown and had to find alternative ways to make a living. I’m very fortunate in that respect. When you say the fight against Eamonn O’Kane was 11 years ago, you think, Where has the time gone?

BN: Were you always confident these big fights would eventually come your way?

JR: Definitely. The times during lockdown were crazy. I had that fight in Miami against Mike Guy and a fight in Austria. It was like is this the new normal now. It was a strange time and a bit scary for a while.

I started 2022 with the Daniel Jacobs fight, then the Zach Parker fight. And then in 2023 it was the Canelo fight. The worry was well and truly over [about] getting them fights and getting myself back on track because I feel like I finished 2019 with a lot of momentum. I had a good win in Vegas [against Bilal Akkawy]. It didn’t go my way; however, against Callum Smith, but I finished the year on a high and took a lot of positives from that.

I feel like I should’ve been the winner [against Smith]. I was then looking to crack on in 2020 but obviously Covid had different ideas and really scuppered plans. Everything for a reason in this sport. If I had them busy two years during lockdown, when things might have been different, I might have been well retired by now.

BN: Do you still want to become a world champion?

JR: I’d love to finish my boxing career and say I was a world champion. That is still the dream. The way things work with Canelo holding all the marbles it’s going to be tough to get another crack at it and rightly so. There’s a long queue and I’m at the back of it now because I’ve had my chance. You never know, in six months things might fragment and [belts] become available and I might get a chance. Failing that I want to fight the biggest and best names in boxing.

When it’s all said and done and I’m Iong-retired I can sit back and look at my career and say, “I did fight the best out there.”

BN: You had been working with a mindset coach called Greg Meehan for the Canelo fight. Are you still working with him?

JR: Greg’s a great friend anyway and a family friend. I still work with him; we still have our weekly meetings; I still see him in the gym most days.

I’ve worked so much on being fit and strong, but I remember walking to the ring against Zach Parker and thinking, I’m not switched on here. I need to focus. It was a strange one for me. I was walking to the ring with Nigel Benn who pretty much got me into boxing so that was a bit surreal. So, I thought to myself, You need to focus a bit here. I’d spoken to Greg a few days after and I said, “I can’t go into a fight against Canelo and not be focused.” He said, “Let’s start some work and make sure that’s not an issue.”

From a week after the Parker fight, we started working on mindset and being present, not looking beyond or too far ahead and live in the moment more. When I went to the press conference in Mexico there were things he told me to do, and I did them. Come fight night I’d been to that ring and arena a hundred times before [in my mind]. The chants for Canelo were muffled; I couldn’t hear nothing it was just noise. It played its part massively.

BN: Is working with Greg something that helps you away from boxing?

JR: I think so. It’s a tough one because I feel like we’re all in tune to think for the future. We often neglect what’s going on in the moment. I kind of feel like I’ve had the reverse and I live in the moment too much. I suppose I’d focused so much on being present and being in the moment, and obviously having kids it is important to be present in the moment and not be always looking for what’s next. It’s played a massive part in boxing and outside of boxing for sure.

BN: Do you think one day you’ll go back to Mexico and revisit the areas where you trained, stayed and fought Canelo?

JR: I’d love to. I made a few friends from Mexico and met up with one of them the other week and went to watch Arsenal. It’d be lovely to go back. I was in Cancun for a few days after with the family. It’d be great to go back and see the stadium and see the locals. All my friends and family were telling me what a great city (Zapopan) it was and all the fun they had there. I was busy working and being locked away. It’d be amazing to go back and see what it’s all about.