By Ian S Palmer
Englishmen John Ryder and Jez Wilson face each other this Saturday, April 5 in a 10-round middleweight bout at York Hall in London. This bout is considered to be a title eliminator with the winner getting a shot at British and Commonwealth middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders, who beat the 25-year-old Ryder last year. Ryder says he’s looking forward to facing Saunders again and that’s his motivation to beat Wilson.
Ryder claims to have learned a lot of lessons in the loss to Saunders last September and figures losing isn’t so devastating as long as he can gain some experience from it. The London native is certain that he’ll be a better boxer when he meets Wilson since he learned so much against Saunders. He’ll enter the ring against Wilson with a record of 16-1 with 9 Kos and will be quite confident since the scores on the judges’ scorecards in his only loss were 115-114, 115-113, and 115-113. He last fought back on March 15 and won a six-round unanimous decision over George Kandelaki in the super middleweight division.
Wilson carries a record of 11-1-1 with him along with 7 Kos, but he hasn’t faced the same quality of opposition that Ryder has and this will be quite a step up in class for him. He’s won three out of his last five bouts by stoppage with his only loss coming back in 2010 when he was stopped by Farai Musiyiwa. Wilson had dropped his opponent in the first round, but then became too anxious to finish him and walked right into a few clean shots that broke his nose.
Like Ryder, the 34-year-old Wilson of Wolverhampton also believes that he learned a lot from his only defeat and won’t make the same mistake again in the future. Both Ryder and Wilson have a lot of respect for each other and they’re prepared for a tough fight. Wilson is also motivated to earn a British title shot against Saunders and says earning one would be a dream come true.
The southpaw Ryder stands 5-foot-9 and has a 67-inch reach while Wilson comes in with the same stats. However, Ryder is nine years younger and has faced tougher opposition over the years. Ryder is regarded as one of Britain’s top middleweight prospects and he needs to prove it here with an impressive showing against Wilson. He’s got pretty good power and has knocked won or stopped all of his opponents in his last five bouts including Eamonn O’Kane and Farai Musiyiwa.
Prediction
Ryder had a good amateur career by winning a couple of regional titles and 30 of his 35 fights. He’s a quality boxer with good speed and power. He gave Saunders all he could handle and will do the same with Wilson in this bout. Wilson shouldn’t be taken lightly as he’s also got some good skills and can put an opponent down with his power. At the end of the day though Ryder should be too strong and experienced for him and will take this contest by decision or a possible late stoppage.
