By Barry Holbrook: Promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants to stage Canelo Alvarez’s next potential title defense of his four super middleweight titles against his WBO mandatory John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder at the 60,000+ seat Emirates stadium in London, England next May.
Ryder, 5’9″, will give Canelo an excellent fight to showcase his skills without being at the size, mobility, or power disadvantage that he would be if he fought some of the elite 168-pounders or a rematch with Dmitry Bivol.
Unfortunately, 34-year-old Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) isn’t the guy that the boxing world wants to see Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) fight in May. They want the Mexican star to battle one of these talented fighters:
- Dmitry Bivol
- David Benavidez
- Jermall Charlo
- David Morrell
Canelo wants to take a tune-up fight in May to ensure his surgically repaired left wrist is 100% before he tackles a rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) in the second half of the year in September.
Ultimately, it’ll be up to Canelo Alvarez’s manager/trainer Eddy Reynoso whether he faces Ryder next in May because he’s the shot-caller about who the Mexican superstar will be fighting.
It’s a tough decision on Reynoso’s part because if he agrees to the Ryder fight in May, Canelo will be dumped on by the U.S. boxing fans, who want to see him fight one of the talented fighters at 168 or 175. Americans aren’t familiar with Ryder, and the ones that are they’re not impressed by him.
It’s also bad for DAZN if Canelo fights Ryder because they’re not going to bring in a ton of new subscribers to their platform, and it won’t attract a lot of buys if it’s put on pay-per-view like the Mexican star’s last two fights against Gennadiy Golovkin and Bivol.
“I’ve already texted Eddy Reynoso to say, ‘John Ryder is mandatory, ‘Let’s go in May at the Emirates.’ It would be a dream for Ryder; he deserves it,” Eddie Hearn told Matchroom Boxing about his plans to stage Canelo Alvarez’s next defense against his WBO mandatory John Ryder in a stadium in England in May.
“He is a very good fighter, and he’s the mandatory challenger for Canelo Alvarez. This could be our chance to bring Canelo to the UK; it would be unbelievable. We’ll see if we can get it over the line.”
Ryder defeated Zach Parker last Saturday night in a WBO 168-lb title eliminator in London.