By Huck Allen: Canelo Alvarez says he’s “not thinking” about retirement as he prepares for the May 6th title defense of his undisputed super middleweight championship against challenger John Ryder in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In a video of Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) training this week for Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs), he’s showing a lot of head & upper body movement to focus on his defense.
That’s important for Canelo because WBO mandatory Ryder has a high work rate, and he’s going to camp in front of the Mexican star, throwing nonstop shots. Ryder thrives in being in the trenches, firing shots nonstop, and wearing down his opponents.
On paper, Ryder is the worst type of fighter that Canelo could face because he will force him into a grueling match that will test Saul’s heart & conditioning.
If Canelo cannot match Ryder’s prodigious punch output, at least he can move his upper body to get out of the way of the shots. That’s the logical explanation for why Canelo is focusing so much on his defense rather than trying to improve these glaring defects:
A. Stamina
B. Punch output
C. Mobility
In the training video of Canelo this week, we saw that he was flat-footed like usual and not using movement in the way that he’ll need for him to have a chance of beating Ryder and Dmitry Bivol.
The head & upper body movement that Canelo uses didn’t work against Bivol, as he was easily picked off all night by his shots. Bivol timed Canelo and knew where to throw his punches at all times to land.
“I’m not thinking about that yet,” said Canelo Alvarez to Fino Boxing about retirement.
Ryder is necessary for Canelo because he can use this guy as practice to get him ready for his rematch with Dmitry Bivol in September. In an interview last week, Canelo said he would use high-volume punching to defeat Bivol.
“Canelo’s trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso stated that they will use counter-punching to defeat Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs), as he seems confident it’ll work. In the meantime, Canelo must get past the formidable threat that Ryder poses because this could be a nightmare for him.
Ryder looked exceptional last year, beating former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs and contender Zach Parker to earn the WBO interim super middleweight title to force a title shot against Canelo.