By Ian S Palmer
The British Middleweight Title will be on the line on Saturday September 21 in London, England when champion Billy Joe Saunders takes on John Ryder in a 12-round tilt. The undefeated Saunders will climb through the ring ropes with a perfect record of 18-0 with 10 Kos while John Ryder, who’s also unbeaten, will be putting his 15-0 record on the line. Ryder has won nine of his bouts by KO.
Saunders is the more well known of the two since he fought for Great Britain at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, but failed to take a medal home with him. The 24-year-old is a southpaw who’s aggressive and has good hand speed. He’s effective at landing quick combinations after getting on the inside due to his constant pressure. He’s won his last three contests by knockout over the likes of Gary O’Sullivan, Matthew Hall, and Nick Blackwell.
The 25-year-old Ryder, who hails from London, is also a southpaw. He is effective at fighting from distance and is quite good defensively. The only knock against Ryder at the moment is the level of opposition he’s fought. This will definitely be a step up in class for him and it will be interesting to see how he fares against a more experienced foe. Ryder has never fought past the eighth round and his best opponent up to now has been Eamonn O’Kane.
Ryder is a decent boxer and has some skills, but the champion is more talented and can box just as well going backwards as he can going forwards. He likes to throw a lot of quick, sharp punches and is very mobile. Neither boxer really has one-punch knockout power, but they’re both dangerous enough to stop an opponent with an accumulation of accurate punches.
Even though Ryder is stepping up in class he should be competitive in this bout if he boxes intelligently and has a decent chin. He’ll have to utilize his defensive skills and counter well against Saunders if he hops to win rounds. Saunders is more likely to press the action and this is going to make things difficult for Ryder unless he can match the champion’s punch output.
This could be an enjoyable action fight with Saunders setting the pace with his volume punching. Ryder won’t have choice, but to fight back and throw as many shots as he can to keep the British and Commonwealth Champion at bay. Ryder should be able to take Saunders’ power shots, but the overall accumulation of punches should be enough to see Saunders keep his title by a relatively wide unanimous decision.
