By Scott Gilfoid: Ryan Rhodes (45-4, 31 KO’s) clearly has the better boxing skills compared to the green 20-year-old WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (36-0-1, 26 KO’s) as they head into their June 18th fight at the Arena VFG in Guadalajara, Mexico. It’s too bad Rhodes is still going to be destroyed by Alvarez. Having better skills will have nothing to do with the outcome of this bout, believe me.
Rhodes is like one of those excellent hockey players with amazing skating and puck handling skills, but when he’s put in against a rough hockey team that slams him around on the boards, he folds. This is what Alvarez is going to do. He’s just way too powerful for 34-year-old Rhodes and it’s going to become apparent after only one or two rounds. Rhodes does well against third tier guys and to some extent 2nd tier fighters, but you put him in with a decent B level fighter with power, he’s a completely different fighter.
Rhodes tastes the power and runs like the wind. Take a look at Rhodes’ fight against the hard hitting but limited Gary Lockett in 2006. Rhodes looked amazing in the fight until Lockett started putting hands on him. Once that happen, Rhodes looked to weaken and lose his resolve to win. I rate Alvarez as just as big a puncher ad Lockett, and in some ways even more powerful.
It’s not that Rhodes can’t do somethings with Alvarez to land his shots, it’s that he won’t be able to handle being bludgeoned by Alvarez’s hammer like fists. Alvarez simply hits too hard for Rhodes to win this fight. Even when Alvarez doesn’t hit you squarely, he hurts you. You think Rhodes is going to be able to stand up to 12 rounds of being pummeled by Alvarez and win? No way. He’s going to lose and lose badly. Rhodes isn’t going to be able to last for a full 12 rounds like Matthew Hatton.
I think Hatton was crazy to absorb all the punishment needlessly. That’s dangerous. Hatton was never competitive and just took shots for a full 12 rounds and looked like a sparring partner. Rhodes needs to do the wise thing and quit on his stool or take a couple of knees and let the referee stop it before it gets really out of hand. I wouldn’t want to see Alvarez hurt him badly.
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