By Jim Calfa: John Ryder says he’s anxious to step into the lion’s den to challenge home fighter Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship next month on May 6th at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Fans still view this fight as a tune-up for Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs), but that’s not how Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs). He feels he can win, and he arguably is coming into the contest with an 11-fight winning streak dating back to 2017.
Ryder’s two defeats in the last six years were highly questionable against Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith. A lot of boxing fans believe Ryder deserved to win those matches.
Canelo is coming off a hand injury, which he blames for his poor performances last year against Dmitry Bivol and Gennadiy Golovkin. If that hand is still a problem for Canelo, he’ll have difficulty beating Ryder on May 6th.
In training footage, Canelo is working a lot on his upper body movement, which he doesn’t need. He had no problems with his upper body movement last year. Canelo showed weakness in his low punch output, lack of combination punching, and stationary style.
For Canelo not to work on his combination punching indicates that he will be loading up on single shots, hoping to knock Ryder out.
Unfortunately, that might not work for Canelo, and he could find himself overwhelmed with Ryder’s high-volume punch output. With the fight in Guadalajara, Canelo will still likely win if it goes the complete twelve rounds.
“Come fight night, they’ll be very hostile, I imagine,” said John Ryder to DAZN Boxing Show about the crowd for his fight against Canelo Alvarez in Guadalajara, Mexico, on May 6th.
“This is the silver lining of my career. This fight is coming at the right time, and I’m physically the best I’ve ever been, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Ryder continued bout his massive fight against Canelo next month.
“He’s still one of the best pound-for-pound in the world and one of the best of our generation. He’s still dangerous, and I think the best of him still might be to come.
“It all makes for a great story when you look back at your career and talk about the ups and the downs. It’s all going to lead to a better story in the end,” said Ryder.
“It’s going to be some atmosphere for sure, but I’m relishing the opportunity. I’m really looking forward to it,” said Ryder.
