By Mark Eisner: Superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez looked in mint condition today, weighing in at 167.5 pounds for the title defense of his undisputed super middleweight championship against John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder, who weighed 168 lbs, for their main event fight on Saturday night on May 6th at the Estadio Akron in Guadalupe, Mexico. The Canelo-Ryder event will be streamed live on DAZN at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Ryder looked ready and in outstanding condition today, and one could tell by the way he glared back at Canelo during their face-off he’s going to be putting massive heat on the superstar on Saturday night.
Other weights:
Julio Cesar Martinez 112 vs. Ronal Batista 112
Steve Spark 140 vs. Gabriel Gollaz 139
Oleksandr Gvozdyk 174.8 vs. Ricards Bolotniks 174.8
Can Ryder upset Canelo Alvarez?
Sergio Mora: “People love him [Canelo Alvarez] here. Everywhere you go, but not as a boxer but as a humble champion that he is, a giving person that he is,” Mora said to DAZN Boxing. “People love Saul Canelo Alvarez here [Guadalajara].”
Chris Mannix: “This is kind of the pinnacle of Canelo Alvarez’s career. He’s going to fight in front of 50,000 fans on Saturday against John Ryder. This fight is not without question. Canelo Alvarez had the most difficult year of his career least year.
“He lost to Dmitry Bivol in the first loss in nearly a decade, and then he beats Gennadiy Golovkin, but doesn’t beat him as quite as dominating as people expected. Then he had hand surgery on his left hand at thee end of the year. Do you think we saw some signs of decline in Canelo Alvarez?”
Mora: “Of course, everyone is declining, especially for professional fighters that have been doing it since they were 15 years old [Canelo]. This is a man that has had over 60 fights; he’s been a warrior for that long, so the injuries accumulate. It’s only natural, but he’s still at the top of his game.
“He’s never been stopped, he’s never taken a beating, and he’s only lost against the absolute best. If he’s declining, it’s human nature, but is he still one of the best? Absolutely.”
Mannix: “So is this decline that you speak of something that John Ryder can take advantage of? Ryder is coming into this fight coming off the best year of his career. He beat Danny Jacobs and then gets a win over Zach Parker to become the mandatory challenger to Canelo. So can John Ryder take advantage of Canelo at this stage?”
Mora: “Like I told John Ryder, if he’s going to be a monkey, be a gorilla, and he loved that line. He knows the stars have to be aligned. Not only does he have to have luck on his side, but to be firing on all cylinders to have the perfect performance and to get help from the judges as well, unless he can get a knockout.
Will Canelo’s injuries be a factor?
“If Canelo’s injuries are going to be a factor, if he’s going to question whether that wrist is going to hold up if anything else he’s questioning that we don’t know about, these are things that John Ryder can take advantage of.
“With his experience, with his momentum with his back-to-back wins, those are the stars aligning somewhat. He was talking about destiny about the fact that he came up short against Callum Smith. Callum Smith got that big opportunity [to fight Canelo]. But if he got that opportunity, John Ryder, he probably wouldn’t have been ready.
“Now, with the momentum and the stars aligning, he thinks that this is thee perfect time and destiny is yours.”
“I thought it was strange that he returned to 175 to fight Bivol. When he fought Kovalev [in 2019], I know that he instantly vacated the titles and said it was too big of a jump up in weight. So I was a bit surprised that he went back up and fought Bivol,” said John Ryder to Secondsout, talking about Canelo Alvarez.
“Then, when Canelo fought Gennadiy Golovkin, but Golovkin is as though as they come, and he was there. It was a convincing win. Canelo later got wrist surgery. It depends on how he returns from the wrist surgery and what he’s got left.
“He’s a complete fighter and does everything well. Things that aren’t natural to people.”