Can John Ryder Cause the Shock of the Year?
by Steve Ashfield | by Valeria Di Meglio
Back Home After All these Years
Not since 2011 has Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez fought in his home country of Mexico. At that time he was world champion in the super welterweight division. A lot of punches have been thrown since then and on May 6 he defends his four super middleweight titles against John Ryder. He hasn't come home to lose his titles and has much tougher opponents in his sights than this British challenger.
Alvarez will want to put on a big display in this match and not just because it's in front of his home fans. His recent performances haven't been that stellar to be honest. Last September he won a trilogy fight against Gennadiy Golovkin which wasn't the most exciting fight seen at the legendary Madison Square Garden.
Before that he had moved up to the light heavyweight division in an unsuccesful attempt to dethrone Dimitry Bivol. More about him and the future plans of Alvarez later.
Alvarez has had plenty of success in the past against British opponents. He's beaten seven British boxers during his professional career and will do all he can to make sure that Ryder doesn't succeed where the others have failed. Losing this fight wouldn't be the end of his career but it would certainly affect his status in the boxing world.
The Chance of a Lifetime
John Ryder claims that he's going to surprise the champion on Saturday. Of course the underdog is going to say that but does he or anyone else really believe he can win this fight and fly home with the belts?
Ryder is two years older than the champion and has already lost five times in his professional career. Four years ago he challenged Liam Smith for the WBA super middleweight title and lost on points. It was a unanimous points decision for Smith with all three judges giving it to the champion by at least four points. Many felt that it was a bit closer than that.
The challenger has also lost to Rocky Fielding and that makes two losses to boxers who Alvarez has beaten. Ryder has done well to bounce back fron his previous title defeat. He's won four fights since then, though one was a split-decision victory over American Daniel Jacobs in February 2022.
His last fight was in November of last year with a four round win over Zach Parker. His opponent pulled out with a broken right hand but that gave him the WBO interim title and this shot at four belts. There has been criticism that Ryder doesn't deserve a title shot but the simple fact that he has earned this opportunity.
Can he win this fight? He has a punchers chance and that always has to be respected when betting on boxing. He's never fought anyone as good as Alvarez but the champion isn't as good as he was a few years ago. Back in 1975, another British boxer called John travelled to Mexico City and shocked the boxing world. John H.Stracey beat the world welterweight champion Jose Napoles, whether Ryder can do the same in 2023 is doubtful.
Who's Next?
If Alvarez can get past John Ryder on Saturday, a rematch with Dimitry Bivol (above left) may well be on the cards. The Mexican dreams of being a world champion at higher weights but he's already tried that and failed.
Last year saw him make an unsuccessful challenge for the WBA light heavyweight title that Bivol holds. The champion won a unanimous points decision with each judge scoring the bout 115-113 to Bivol. There was surprise at the close scoring with it being felt that Bivol had dominated the fight.
With Alvarez not being so impressive in his last couple of bouts, having another crack at Bivol (who has won all 21 of his professional fights) might not be the best of ideas.
There are other options if he opts to stay in the super middleweight division. David Benavidez is the current WBC Interim champion and a mandatory defence against the unbeaten champion is a possibility.
What if Ryder does cause a big shock? Is there a rematch clause as is often the case these days? A beaten Alvarez may well opt for that but would probably have to come to the UK to get his chance of revenge. Another option for Ryder would be a rematch with Zach Parker after the unfortunate way their first match ended. Whoever wins this bout is going to have some tough opposition in the future.
