John Ryder hoping to get Canelo Alvarez for September

By Boxing News - 07/05/2020 - Comments

By Kenneth Friedman: John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder is holding out hope that Eddie Hearn will be able to set him up for a title shot against WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for September 12. Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs) says Hearn sent an email to Golden Boy Promotions to let them know their interest in that fight.

Ryder, 31, understands that the purse that he gets for the Canelo match won’t be huge, but he’s still willing to take the fight. The pandemic has Golden Boy’s hands tied because Canelo’s next contest will be behind closed doors.

Unless something changes overnight with a vaccine being introduced to the market, Canelo’s September fight will be held without fans in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Canelo with a lot of options

Ryder is joining a long list of fighters that are being considered for Canelo. These are some of the names that have been mentioned thus far:

  • David Lemieux
  • Billy Joe Saunders
  • Anthony Dirrell
  • Sergiy Derevyanchenko
  • Willie Monroe Jr
  • Callum Smith

Ryder fits in with the middle of that bunch. He’s not as well known as guys like Derevyanchenko, Monroe Jr, Dirrell, and Lemieux, but he’s willing to accept less money. At this point, Golden Boy Promotions probably aren’t too picky about the type of opponent they get for Canelo. They just want someone that won’t ask for a King’s ransom in terms of their purse.

Canelo is getting his usual $33 million per fight, and there’s not much money for his opponent. Golden Boy needs not only to pay for Alvarez’s opponent but also to come up with the money for the undercard fights.

If there were a live gate for Canelo’s September 12 bout, it would pay for everything. Right now, that’s not possible because of the pandemic.

Hearn has contacted Golden Boy already

“I know Eddie put a text into Golden Boy and said we’re available. I know the money is not there for these big shows. It’s a chance in a lifetime. I’ve been keeping fit the whole lockdown. Give me the call and I’m more than ready to go,” said Ryder to skysports.com.

Ryder looked good in his last fight in losing to WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith last November. John gave Callum the fight of his life before losing by a 12 round decision. If Ryder can put in the same kind of performance against Canelo, it could be interesting.

Canelo needs a stay busy fight for the Mexican Independence Day holiday on September 12 before he looks to face Gennadiy Golovkin in early 2021.