Boxing’s biggest draw, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez returns for the first time this year to defend his WBA (super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring super-middleweight titles. Standing across from him in his home country will be Englishman, John Ryder. The fight will take place on May 6th and marks the first time that Canelo has returned ‘home’ since 2011.
👑 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚 🇲🇽@canelo vs. @_John_Ryder_ for undisputed super middleweight gold 🙌
Watch #CaneloRyder LIVE on https://t.co/FoiaUucafv & DAZN PPV on May 6 pic.twitter.com/4M3VBJ4pmk
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 14, 2023
Canelo’s Run to his Homecoming
Canelo has hit the mainstream in a huge way since he last fought in Mexico. In recent times, he dared to be great by going up in weight and trying to win another belt in the light heavyweight division. For context, he’d already won a light heavyweight strap when he finished Sergey Kovalev back in 2019.
He gave up that belt and began his dominance in the super middleweight division. He became the first-ever undisputed super-middleweight champion and yet again, attempted to become a light heavyweight title holder for a second time. He went up in weight to face Dmitry Bivol. He came up short in that one but bounced back against Gennady Golovkin. It served as the trilogy between the two men, however, the two men were far apart in terms of their career trajectories when they met the third time.
Canelo will be facing another fresh face in John Ryder, however, if his record against English super-middleweights is anything to go by, he’s getting his hand raised. He’s 3-0 with two TKO’s and will be in search of a fourth win over English competition.
Ryder – Stepping into Enemy Territory
It’s hard to argue that Ryder isn’t deserving of a shot at gold. Sitting at 32-5, Ryder is enjoying a record of 8-1 in his last nine. That lone loss came against Callum Smith, but it came in extremely controversial circumstances. Many believed that Ryder won the fight but didn’t get his hand raised.
He’s recorded wins against Danny Jacobs and Zach Parker in his last two fights, however, it appears, on paper that Ryder is levels below Canelo. The Fight Disciples podcast described the fight as ‘not competitive’ and ‘needing a knockout to get a draw‘, proving just how difficult a task Ryder has on his hands, especially as it takes place in Mexico.
Expect a Canelo victory, but don’t expect Ryder to be a pushover.
