By Mark Eisner: Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) got badly marked up around the face but won a much more arduous than expected twelve round unanimous decision over his WBO mandatory John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) on Saturday night at the Estadio Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The scores were 120-107, 118-109, and 118-109. Boxing News 24 had Caneelo winning eight rounds to four. He looked old tonight, especially with how he faded in the second half, just like he did in his fights last year against Gennadiy Golovkin nd Dmitry Bivol. Father time waits for no one.
Ryder was knocked down in round five and dominated the first nine rounds. However, Canelo gassed out in the championship rounds and outworked & out-punched by a motivated Ryder in rounds 10, 11, and 12.
The scoring was arguably a crime because the judges failed to recognize the good work Ryder did.
Undercard results:
- Julio Cesar Martinez (20-2, 14 KOs) retained his WBC flyweight title with an eleventh round TKO win over fringe contender Ronal Batista (15-3, 9 KOs) in the chief support bout on tonight’s card. Martinez hurt Batista in the eleventh round and battered him until the referee stepped in and halted the fight. In that final sequence, Martinez trapped Batista against the ropes and hit him with a flurry of headshots, leaving the referee with no choice but to wave it off. That was the old version of Martinez that fans have grown to love. In the seventh, Martinez knocked Batista down. Initially, it was ruled a slip but was later changed to a knockdown.
- In what could be a prelude to what we’ll see in the main event, local fighter Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (27-3-1, 17 KOs), who comes from Guadalajara, defeated light welterweight contender Steve Spark (16-3, 14 KOs) by a 10 round split decision. The scores were 96-93, 95-94 for the local fighter Valenzuela and 95-94 for Spark. Boxing News 24 had it 8-2 for Spark. Valenzuela had his best rounds in the second and sixth. He knocked Spark down in round six with a body shot. However, Spark dominated eight of the ten rounds with his power shots, as he had a big advantage in punching power of Gollaz. This was arguably a robbery of thee first order. Interestingly, there’s still not much of a crowd. That suggests that the fans weren’t interested in seeing Canelo fight Ryder, or perhaps they’ve given up on him after his loss to Dmitry Bivol and avoidance of David Benavidez.
- Former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (19-1, 15 KOs) picked up the second comeback win with a sixth round knockout over Ricards Bolotniks (19-7-1, 8 KOs). Gvozdyk seemed to be fighting leisurely in the first five rounds, but then went after the 33-year-old Bolotniks in the sixth, unloading on him with heavy shots that resulted in him going down by the ropes. Bleeding badly from his left eye, Bolotniks got back to his feet. The referee Celestino Ruiz then stepped in and halted the fight. The time of the stoppage was at 1:53 mark. Gvozyk’s defense didn’t look great tonight, as he was getting hit a lot by Bolotniks with everything he threw. Oleksandr is going to need to make huge improvements in this area for him to mix it with the likes of Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol. On a side note, the Estadio Akron stadium looks mostly empty at this time, making you wonder if Mexican boxing fans are no longer enamored with Canelo Alvarez. Perhaps they’re not thrilled with Canelo fighting John Ryder because they would have obviously preferred he fights David Benavidez, Dmitry Bivol, or David Morrell Jr.
Preview: Can Ryder upset Canelo in tonight’s bout?
John Ryder: “That was always the dream, and I feel like I’ve earned it now,” said ‘The Gorilla’ about his title shot against Canelo tonight. “I feel like I’ve earned it now. I’ve not been handed it. I’ve gone away and got good wins under my belt, and I’m the mandatory now. I’m an interim [WBO] champion. So I’m fully deserving of this shot.”
Chris Mannix: “There’s no question it is an opportunity, but it’s one that you’ve earned over the last year. You had a quality win over Daniel Jacobs. You beat Zach Parker to become the interim champion. You have five losses on your resume, but it feels like your peaking as a fighter right now.”
Ryder: “After the year 2019, I feel like I hit my peak, but with COVID and one fight a year for the last two years, you often wonder if that time has passed you up. Obviously, last year was a good year for me with a win over Danny Jacobs and Zach Parker. So I feel like I’ve still got air in the tank. If anything, it’s prolonged my career.”
Mannix: “You’ve fought in front of some great crowds, and great atmosphere’s during your professional, but probably nothing like this in front of 50,000+ in Mexico, all pulling for the other guy. How do you prepare for something like that?”
Ryder: “That’s why you have to be a little numb to it. The Mexican fans are real fight fans. As long as they’re seeing a good fight, they’ll cheer regardless. They’ll start booing their own if it’s a lackluster fight and not much is going on. So as long as we’re putting on a good show, they’ll be happy.”
Mannix: “Is there any way to prepare for it because I remember when Rocky Fielding fought Canelo. It felt like Rocky Fielding was overwhelmed by the moment. How do you avoid that? How do you avoid being overwhelmed by the moment?”
Ryder: “I think just living in the moment and just bear in mind that it’s just you and him in the ring. It can be 50,000 Mexicans outside of it, but inside the ring, it’s just you and him.”
Mannix: “It’s a broad question, but how do you beat Canelo Alvarez, a guy that’s only been beaten a couple of times?”
Ryder: “I think just being the best version of myself. Front foot forward and do what we’ve been trained to do and implement a good game plan that we’ve worked on, me and Tony [Sims], and just go out there and put on a performance.”
Is Canelo Alvarez slipping?
“What do you have to do to get your shot? I understand that he’s not recognized in the same ilk as Canelo, but he’s done the right thing,” said Darren Barker to DAZN Boxing Show about John Ryder.
“I thought he beat Callum Smith, and there are levels with this, but he fought Callum Smith in his own backyard [Liverpool]. We know how passionate the scousers are, the Liverpool fans with supporting their own fighters.
“He went there, and I felt he won. This won’t be alien for John. In some degrees, I know it’ll be tough. They’re going to be calling for his blood in Guadalajara, but this is going to be the best John Ryder we’ve ever seen. There’s no doubt about it.
“I know Tony Sims, John Ryder’s coach. He says this is the fittest he’s been, the hardest he’s punched. If John Ryder was ever to beat Canelo, it would be now,” said Barker.
“Has there been any slippage with Canelo?” said Ade Oladipo. ”
“The way that John is, the way he deals with things, the way that he handles life. He’s an inspiration to all of us in the gym,” said Conor Benn to An Inside Look: Team John Ryder vs. Canelo Alvarez at Matchroom Boxing.
“My best traits as a person is my hard work and dedication to the sport of boxing, to life, my family, my desire. I have a massive desire to win and succeed in life,” said Ryder.
Canelo Alvarez will need a strong performance tonight against John Ryder to hold onto his undisputed super middleweight championship and to shut down talk from fans that he’s slipping as a fighter. Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) has his work cut out for him, defending against Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) on DAZN PPV at the Estadio Akron stadium in front of a crowd predicted to be over 50,000+ tonight.