By Dan Ambrose: Dmitry Bivol says tonight’s title defense for undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez against John Ryder could have some “fireworks” in Guadalajara.
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol feels that Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) is “tailor-made” for Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs), and there probably won’t be any “big surprise” in the end, but it’ll have some action. This is the fight that Canelo wanted, indicating that he’s confident he’ll beat Ryder tonight.
Canelo could have fought the rematch with Bivol or faced David Benavidez, but he chose instead to fight Ryder. What was surprising is that Matchroom Boxing and DAZN, the ones putting on this fight, didn’t interview Bivol during the promotion to get his two cents worth.
Was that on purpose that they didn’t question Bivol? It could be that they didn’t want to remind Canelo’s fans what happened to him a year ago because that might make them less willing to purchase his fight tonight against Ryder on DAZN PPV.
Bivol will be next for Canelo if he wins tonight. Canelo has already said he wants a rematch with Bivol in September to avenge his loss from a year ago in May in Las Vegas.
It’ll be interesting to see if Canelo attempts to negotiate the rematch with Bivol to be staged in Mexico or at the same venue as last time, where the three judges scored it 115-113 in a fight that appeared to be a one-sided affair that should have had a lopsided score.
Although Bivol didn’t mention it, Ryder’s hand speed and power are unremarkable. He will be beaten to the punch tonight by Canelo and will need a good chin to have a chance of winning.
Ryder’s only chance of winning is if Canelo empties his gas tank after three or four rounds, as we saw in his last two fights. Canelo claims he got tired in those fights because of his left hand.
What Canelo says doesn’t make sense, but perhaps in his world, an injured hand translates to him not working on his cardio during training camp.
If his trainer Eddy Reynoso wasn’t making sure he was focusing on his conditioning, it’s shocking, sugging that they were just going through the motions during camp for his last two fights against Bivol and Gennadiy Golovkin.
On paper John Ryder is tailor-made for Canelo. Don't expect big surprise but fireworks should be there for sure – hometown favorite master boxer against underdog with big cojones #caneloryder
— Dmitry Bivol (@bivol_d) May 6, 2023
Just having a great engine might be enough for Ryder to win tonight. It’s not likely to be the case, given the location of the contest. Still, Ryder could get lucky with the judges giving him the decision over the hometown favorite, Canelo.
Bivol sees Ryder as courageous, making for an exciting fight against Canelo. The opposition that has done well against Canelo has been fighters that weren’t afraid of him and put it on him.
That’s what Bivol, Gennadiy Golovkin, Erislandy Lara, Floyd Mayweather Jr, and Austin Trout did when they fought Canelo.
