By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez disagrees with his critics about his next opponent, British fighter John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder being another example of an easy mark for him to pick up a guaranteed win on May 6th on DAZN PPV at the Estadio Akron, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Canelo points out that fans saw Dmitry Bivol as an easy fight for him, and look what happened. He got soundly beaten last year. What makes people view Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) as unworthy of challenging Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) for his undisputed super middleweight championship is that he’s been beaten by three of the Mexican star’s former victims.
Ryder lost to these former Canelo opponents: Billy Joe Saunders, Rocky Fielding, and Callum Smith. When you factor in that information, you have to wonder what the objective is for Canelo to be fighting Ryder, aside from creating another barrier to him facing David Benavidez, the guy the fans want him to fight.
“They said the same thing with Dmitry Bivol. It was an easy fight and see what happened, right?” said Canelo Alvarez to TMZ Sport about fans viewing John Ryder as an easy fight for him on May 6th.
“In boxing, any fight is dangerous. You need to train like it’s the best fighter out there because you never know in boxing. They said the same thing when I fought with Bivol. ‘It’s an easy fight.’ No, it’s not an easy fight there,” said Canelo about Ryder.
“Everybody knows I want the rematch with [Dmitry] Bivol. That’s my goal,” said Canelo when asked what he has planned for the second half of this year after the Rytder fight on May 6th. “If it’s not happening, then we’ll see what happens, but that’s my goal this year.”
Last Saturday, Canelo’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that recent Matchroom Boxing signee Edgar Berlanga would be fighting Alvarez early next year if he defeats Jason Quigley on June 24th and then another opponent in December.
That means Berlanga will get a title shot against Canelo than interim WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez. Hearn and Canelo will take a lot of abuse from fans if it plays out like that, but better to take criticism than a potential knockout loss against Benavidez, which could hurt Alvarez’s popularity and possibly bring the PPV gravy train to a screeching halt.
Fans have been after Canelo for years to step up the level of his opposition and begin his journey to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Canelo already accomplished that goal in 2021, and fans want him to start fighting elite-level 168-pounders in David Benavidez, David Morrell Jr, and Demetrius Andrade.
