By Sean Jones: Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and his WBO mandatory John ‘Gorilla’ Ryder are finalizing a fight for May 6th, potentially at the 46,000-seat Akron Stadium in Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico. That venue is the frontrunner, according to Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN.
Fighting in Jalisco, Mexico, will hurt Canelo in terms of his salary because he won’t make the same kind of money he could get elsewhere, according to Salvador. However, with a net worth of $180 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Canelo doesn’t need to worry about losing out on millions from fighting in Mexico. He’s got enough money to last him many lifetimes.
The Canelo vs. Ryder fight, if it gets made, will be shown on DAZN. It’s still to early to know if boxing fans need to purchase the fight on pay-per-view.
It’s safe to say that American boxing fans will be apoplectic if they’re asked to pay extra to see Canelo fight Ryder on pay-per-view. On paper, this fight shapes to be a mismatch in favor of Canelo.
Canelo will defend his undisputed super middleweight title against the 34-year-old ‘Gorilla’ Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs), who is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.
Hearn has been the one that has been pushing for Canelo to defend against Ryder next because it would be an in-house fight for him, and British boxing fans would be excited at seeing this match-up.
Americans won’t be excited by this fight because Ryder is an unknown, and the ones who know of him view him as a weak puncher with very little hand speed. Ryder isn’t viewed as being anywhere near the same class talent-wise as the elite-level guys at 168 in three killers: David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, and David Morrell.
Ryder will be useful for the Mexican star Canelo to get a sure-thing win and to test out his recently surgically repaired left wrist. He’s a capable fighter.
Canelo needs to test out his left against an opponent that won’t be able to push him if things suddenly go wrong during the course of the fight. If Canelo’s left wrist gives him problems during the Ryder fight, he can still win by using his right hand.
“Canelo Álvarez will fight on May 6 in Jalisco, and his rival will be the British John Ryder,” said Salvador Rodriguez to ESPN Knockout.
“Canelo Álvarez will fight on May 6 in his native Jalisco for the first time since June 2011. The venue aims to be Akron Stadium, home of Chivas de Guadalajara.
“The idea of returning to his homeland as the undisputed champion satisfied those involved, including ‘Canelo’ who will have to make a strong sacrifice in his salary to appear at home and with his people,” said Rodriguez.
If Canelo wins this fight against Ryder, his next match-up is expected to be a rematch against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in September. Hearn wants Bivol to come down to 168, so that he can fight for Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight championship.
It’s still unknown if Bivol will agree to do that because he’ll need to lose weight, and it’s not a good idea for him to do so because he’s interested in fighting IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed championship.
Ryder had an excellent year in 2022, stopping the hard-hitting Zach Parker in the fifth round last November to capture the interim WBO 168-lb title. Before that, Ryder upset former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs by a 12 round split decision last year in February in London.
American fans would prefer that Canelo fight one of these fighters for his tune-up rather than Ryder, who has far too many losses on his resume to be viewed as an interesting opponent:
- Demetrius Andrade
- Jermall Charlo
- Jaime Munguia
- Janibek Alimkhanul
- Caleb Plant