Freddie Roach ‘very proud’ of work with Jaime Munguia

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach says he is “very proud” of his work with super middleweight contender Jaime Munguia after the fighter announced he was returning to Mexican countryman Erik Morales for future fights.

Munguia had worked with Morales for four years, from 2019 through his Fight of the Year-caliber win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in June 2023.  But Morales, who was elected to Mexico's Chamber of Deputies in 2018, was reportedly struggling to find time for his various responsibilities, so last year Munguia teamed up with Roach.

In their first fight together, Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) did what Saul “Canelo” Alvarez could not and stopped Britain’s John Ryder in the ninth round in January. That earned Munguia, the former WBO junior middleweight titlist, a shot at Alvarez in May. But despite starting well in his first step up to the elite level, a fourth-round knockdown turned the tide and Munguia ended up losing a unanimous decision.

Even so, Roach had no reason to assume that their partnership would not be continuing until, he told BoxingScene though a spokesperson, Munguia’s co-promoters called him recently.

“We received a call from a representative of Zanfer Promotions who informed us that, for his next fight, ‘Jaime is going in a different direction,’” the spokesperson said.

The switch of trainers comes as Munguia has also left Golden Boy Promotions, which had promoted him since he defeated Sadam Ali to capture his 154-pound belt in 2018 under the Top Rank banner. As before, Mexico’s Zanfer will continue to co-promote Munguia’s bouts.

The spokesperson insisted to BoxingScene that there is no bad blood.

“Freddie is very proud of the work he and Jaime produced together and will be rooting hard for him when he returns to the ring.”

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is .