By Ian S Palmer
WBO/IBF/WBA/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez of Mexico returns to the ring this Saturday, May 6th to take on England’s John Ryder The 12-rounder from Mexico can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Alvarez last saw action in September when he won a close unanimous decision over Gennady Golovkin in their trilogy bout. Ryder last saw action when he stopped Zach Parker after four rounds for the vacant Interim WBO Super Middleweight Title. Parker had to pull out due to a broken hand.
The 32-year-old Alvarez won his latest in a merry-go-round of titles in November, 2021 when he took Caleb Plant’s super middleweight belt. Before that he beat Callum Smith by unanimous decision for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight Title as well as Smith’s WBA belt and then added the WBO title with his eight-round demolition of Billy Joe Saunders. However, the only time he’s been severely tested since his first two contests against Golovkin was in his unanimous decision loss to Dmitrii Bivol last May.
Since those first two meetings with Triple G, he’s also beaten the likes of Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, and Avni Yildirim while stopping Fielding, Kovalev and Yildirim. Jacobs, Smith, Kovalev, Saunders and Plant were his toughest tests in the past four years and Alvarez didn’t really have too much trouble with any of them. But looked completely outclassed against Bivol.
Alvarez owns a 58-2-2 record with 39 Ko’s with his only other loss being a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather in September, 2013. Besides his draw with Golovkin, he also drew a four-round affair against Jorge Juarez back in 2006. Alvarez stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 70.5 inch and has a wealth of experience under his belt as he turned pro in 2005 when he was just 15 years old has 460 rounds in the books since.
He’s taken on and beaten several other tough opponents over the years such as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez, Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, and Alfredo Angulo. He’s also held world titles in the junior. middleweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions as well as minor belts as a welterweight.
Alvarez has solid power and enters the fight with a current knockout ratio of 62.9 per cent with a granite chin and quick hands but has gone the distance in his last two fights and in five of his last 12 outings. Bivol, Golovkin, Mayweather, Lara and Khan to some degree, showed that Canelo can be outboxed in stages as he has difficulty handling a quick, stiff jab. Even so, Alvarez is an above-average boxer-puncher who likes to go to the body but has a bit of difficulty with opponents who are mobile.
The 34-year-old Ryder, a southpaw from London, will enter the ring with a record of 32-5 with 18 Ko’s. He lost a split decision to Rocky Fielding for the vacant British Super Middleweight Title in 2017 and dropped a unanimous decision to Jack Arnfield for the WBA International Middleweight Crown a year earlier. His only stoppage defeat came to Nick Blackwell in 2015 when he was halted in the seventh round for the vacant British Middleweight Belt.
His pro first loss was also for the British Middleweight Title and the Commonwealth Championship when he dropped a close unanimous decision to Billie Joe Saunders in 2013. Ryder’s last defeat then came at the hands of Callum Smith by way of a 12-round unanimous decision in November, 2019 in a fight many fans believed he won. That decision was for the WBA Super World Super Middleweight title and the WBC Diamond Super Middleweight Crown.
The southpaw Ryder did manage to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title in 2014 when he stopped Theophilus Tetteh in the fifth round. He also won the vacant WBA International Middleweight Belt in 2016 with a unanimous decision over Siarhei Khamitski in 2016. He then won the vacant IBF International Super Middleweight Title with a unanimous decision over Adam Etches in 2017. He’s also stopped Patrick Nielsen, Jamie Cox and Andrey Sirotkin and enjoyed a fine amateur career and won a couple of regional titles.
Ryder stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach which gives him an inch edge in height and 1.5-inches in reach over Alvarez. He’s boxed 233 rounds since making his pro debut in 2010 and possesses average power with a current knockout ratio of 48.6 per cent but has a lot of heart and energy in the ring. Ryder has been quite competitive in every fight when moving up in class but usually falls just short of the mark.
Prediction…
No offence to Ryder, but he’s not an opponent fans were hoping to see in the ring against Alvarez when the likes of David Benavidez and David Morrell are out there. Alvarez is younger, more powerful, has more experience etc etc etc. Ryder will give it his best shot but he’s not really a world class boxer, he’s more of a European-level fighter. I’m expecting Alvarez to triumph again in a fight against a lower-class opponent.
