By Brian Webber: Canelo Alvarez has returned to the gym to start training with coach Eddy Reynoso just three days after his win over John Ryder last Saturday night in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Perhaps stung by criticism from boxing fans over his less than stellar performance against the 34-year-old Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) or people saying he’s too focused on his golf game, Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) is back training for what comes next.
The performance that Canelo turned in won’t be good enough for him to beat the top super middleweights like David Benavidez and David Morrell. If either of those guys is next up, Canelo needs to make massive improvements.
Canelo said after the fight that he wants to take on Dmitry Bivol again at 175, so that could be the reason he’s started training. The effort that we saw from Canelo against the 34-year-old Ryder wasn’t nearly good enough for him to defeat Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) for his WBC light heavyweight title.
It’s still not certain the rematch with Bivol will happen because the financial terms, weight, location, and ring size all need to be negotiated.
If Canelo and his team attempt to get Bivol to agree to the rematch taking place in a shoebox-sized ring like the one that he had for the Ryder fight last weekend, the rematch won’t happen. As dominant as Bivol was last year, he’d beat Canelo in any sized ring.
In fact, it might be worse for Canelo if the rematch takes place in a smaller ring because Bivol will shift into second and third gear and throw a lot more punches than he did the last time they fought.
Ryder showed a lot of heart
“His nose bled all night. A lot of grit, a lot of heart. With Ryder, you knew you were getting that, and you were getting a predictable slow guy that was not a puncher. You can see he’s predictable; he’s right in front of you. You were getting that too, but a game, gritty guy,” said Teddy Atlas on his The Fight Youtube channel.
Canelo Alvarez straight back in the gym with Eddy Reynoso today after his win over John Ryder on Saturday night… pic.twitter.com/CHuFV8O4td
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 9, 2023
“You got a slow-footed guy, a plodding guy, a guy that’s easy to find, and he can’t punch,” Atlas continued about Ryder. “So it was perfect, and he’s going to be there to make work. It’s not like it’s going to be where you hit him with one punch, and he falls down.
“The only thing Ryder had going besides his grit & his heart was that he was a southpaw, but I even said that wasn’t going to make that much of a difference because he’s a squared-up southpaw,” said Atlas.
Canelo is on the slide
“One thing I prefaced is that I thought it would go the distance if Canelo has slid, which I think he has,” said Atlas. “I think he’s sliding back. He’s getting long in the tooth. If he hasn’t [slid], he gets rid of this guy three years ago, four years ago, Canelo.
“You take nothing away from Ryder. You got to love him, his heart, his fortitude, but he gets rid of him three years ago. So just by going the distance with him sort of confirms and validates my point. That he has slid.
“All night long, he [Canelo] found him with good left hooks to the body. Give him credit. His [Ryder] whole body was red. I don’t know if that was painted from the blood because he was bleeding so much, and it was on the gloves. Maybe that was part of it.
“This is what the doctor ordered if you were a fighter if you were coming off a bad performance against an old, ancient GGG. He was coming off a terrible performance, Canelo. He looked bad; he looked old, he looked like he was sliding.
“Canelo has always been overrated. It doesn’t mean he’s not a real good fighter, but he’s not the greatest Mexican fighter of all time. He’s not the greatest Mexican fighter; he’s overrated.
“He probably lost to [Erislandy] Lara, and he lost twice to GGG. I know it’s old news, it’s old history, but he lost the first two, especially the first one. He lost to Mayweather every round except to the judge, that should be in jail,” Atlas said.
