By Dan Ambrose: Eddie Hearn says John Ryder is the “perfect fight” for Canelo Alvarez’s next fight in May to help him tune up for his rematch with Dmitry Bivol in September.
Some would say that Hearn is being disingenuous when he talks of Ryder being “perfect” for Canelo because he’s the opposite of that. He’s imperfect, and his five career defeats would attest to that.
When Hearn refers to Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) as the “perfect” opponent for Canelo, he appears to be speaking in code, meaning that the British fighter is no threat to beat the Mexican star.
If Hearn were serious about finding the actual perfect opponent to help Canelo get ready for the undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs), he would choose one of these killers:
- David Morrell
- Demetrius Andrade
- David Benavidez
- Artur Beterbiev
- Janibek Alimkhanuly
Given how dangerous Morrell, Beterbiev, and Benavidez are, it might be asking too much of Canelo to use one of them as his next opponent for May. But there’s nothing wrong with Andrade or Janibek being used instead of Ryder.
“John’s the mandatory challenger. He’s the perfect fight for Saul to run out before Dmitry Bivol,” said Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing about what he has planned for Canelo’s next fight in May. “Our plans for Canelo are John Ryder and then Dmitry Bivol.”
What Canelo needs is someone that will push him and force him to build up his stamina because he cannot afford to gas out against Bivol in the rematch as he did in their previous fight last May.
Canelo’s sparring partner Ahmed Elbiali, who worked with him for his fight with Bivol, claims that he told him that he was “tired” after the third or fourth round and didn’t want to continue training.
Ahmed Elbiali exposes Canelo: “I’m tired”
“Imagine sparring a world champion of his caliber and his legacy, and in the third or fourth round and Canelo goes, ‘I’m tired.‘ ‘What?'” said Ahmed Elbiali to And Still Podcast about him sparring with Canelo Alvarez to prepare him for his fight last May against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
“‘I’m tired; I can’t right now.’ I’m like, ‘F**k, bro.’
“I swear to God. 100%,” said Elbiali when the host on the podcast questioned his truthfulness in retelling what happened in his sparring with the legend Canelo. “They just stop sparring because he’s tired.”
