Rhodes: I probably underestimated Alvarez’s power, he’s a fantastic fighter and a super star

By Scott Gilfoid: It was interesting to see Ryan Rhodes (45-5, 31 KO’s) heaping praise on undefeated WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KO’s) after being destroyed by a 12th round knockout in a failed attempt to capture Alvarez’s World Boxing Council title at the Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco, Mexico. It was as if Rhodes couldn’t stop complimenting how great Alvarez was and started repeating himself over and over again with the same compliments. It was like he was groveling after the fight.

I was almost embarrassed for Rhodes, but it was good to see him describing how good Alvarez is. Rhodes said that Alvarez’s body attack was the key to victory, because it weakened him and made it hard to fight.

This is just a few of compliments Rhodes said about Alvarez after getting beaten: “I probably underestimated Alvarez’s power. He’s a very strong kid. His body attack was fantastic. He caught me with some very good body shots and it took it’s toll on me in the 12th. I couldn’t get out of the way of the body shots. He’s a super star. This isn’t the end of Ryan Rhodes.”

I predicted that Alvarez would be much strong for Rhodes, and this win proves how right I was. Yes, Rhodes couldn’t get out of the way of Alvarez’s devastating body shots nor could he punch with Alvarez, although Rhodes did gamely attempt to. Rhodes figured out fairly early in the fight that he didn’t possess the power or the build to stand and trade with the much stronger Alvarez. Rhodes looked practically frail and weak when he would try and fight back. Rhodes would land an occasional decent shot when he would load up, but Alvarez was quick to return fire with much faster combinations and thrown with better power. Alvarez didn’t need to load up on his shots, because everything he threw was very heavy. It was like Rhodes was fighting a robot with medal in each fist, because Alvarez looked that much stronger than the weaker Rhodes.

With this loss, Rhodes will likely go back down to the European circuit and lick his wounds down there. I can see him doing well at the Euro and domestic level, because the quality of opposition is rather meager.