By Matt Lieberman: Teddy Atlas believes that John Ryder is “made to order” for undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and will lose to him this Saturday unless the Mexican star has regressed more than he thought.
Atlas says he thinks the 32-year-old Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is “getting old,“ not in the chronological sense, but rather the ring wear. He’s had a lot of fights, and he took a lot of punishment in his first two fights with Gennadiy Golovkin in 2017 & 2018.
Canelo defends his four 168-lb titles this Saturday, May 6th, against his WBO mandatory Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) on DAZN PPV at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico. DAZN subscribers can order the event for $54.99.
Atlas says that with the way Ryder squares up to his opponents, he’ll be right there in front of Canelo for him to land his shots, particularly his uppercuts.
Ryder has lost to 4 guys Canelo beat
“John Ryder is 34 years old, and he’s been knocked out one time. The best name on his record as he beat an old Danny Jacobs,” said Teddy Atlas on his YouTube channel. “At least that helps Ryder that he belongs at this level. That’s very important. He’s got experience.
“He lost to Callum Smith, he lost to Rocky Fielding, he lost to Jack Arnfield, and Nick Blackwell stopped him, and he lost to Billy Joe Saunders,” continued Atlas about Ryder.
“So he lost to four guys that Canelo beat, but here’s the key. I think Canelo is getting old. I think he’s sliding. He didn’t look good against a very old GGG. He did not look good to me. I’m not the pom-pom guy. I’m going to tell you the way it is like Howard Cossell.
“You’re not getting that pom-pom stuff over here. Obviously, people know that by now. Canelo is not the greatest Mexican fighter of all time, and he’s not even in the top ten.
“I have great respect for the tradition of boxing in Mexico, where I’m not going to let someone be placed in there that doesn’t belong in there. I like Canelo. I like that he’s never gotten in trouble. He’s a really good solid fighter, and I like that he’s improved over the years.
“Mexico has such great fighters in their history, and he’s not one of the top ones. Not at that level. More importantly now, more relevant now, is that he’s sliding a little bit,” Teddy said.
Canelo is getting old
“I think he’s getting old. He turned pro when he was 15 or 16, and he’s got over 60 fights, Canelo, and he’s only 32,” Atlas continued.
“You’d think that he’s 82 for as long as he’s been around, right? He’s been around an awfully long time, but I just see a little sliding. I don’t know if it’s enough for John Ryder to have a chance, but I’ll tell you one thing about John Ryder. He’s a southpaw.
“Maybe that gives him a little something that he’s a southpaw, and he’s only an inch taller than Canelo. So he’s a stocky, physical guy, and he likes to be aggressive. He’s not really reckless. He comes in slow, takes his time and tries to be methodical, and moves his head.
“He’s not fast, he don’t have quick hands, he is a bit one-dimensional, he doesn’t have quick feet, and he is predictable. The edge of being a southpaw that could give him a little help, being that he’s a southpaw, but where it falls a little short is that he’s a squared-up southpaw.
“He’s not a southpaw that behaves like a southpaw that can give you the kind of problems that lefties can give you. He’s right there in front of you to where it doesn’t even matter that he’s a southpaw because he’s coming at you in the way that you can expect.
“He’s right there in front of you where there’s something to find. You don’t have to go look for him, but he’s a game guy and is probably in the best place that he’s been in with his career as far as mental confidence,” Atlas said.
Ryder made to order for Canelo
“He’s a guy that will give his all; he’s a guy that is hungry,” said Teddy. “He’s also just what the doctor ordered for Canelo to get better coming off that bad performance against GGG and the loss to Bivol, where he wants to get back up in people’s minds as Canelo. Not that the perception of him was accurate, but he was the best.
“A lot of people had him the #1 pound-for-pound guy in boxing. He wants to get back to that status or close to that status. This would probably be one of the guys to do it with unless Canelo has gotten old. Then it changes everything.
“Canelo, if he’s not significantly diminished and I’m starting to see some sliding, then he should look good against Ryder for the reason I just said. Ryder is going to come at him. He’s not fast, he’s predictable, and he’s right in front of him.
“I think Canelo can use the jab to control him. I think he can go to the body, he can do some counter-punching, and he might even be able to use the uppercut, which is a really good punch for Canelo. He didn’t really use it in his last couple of fights.
“It’s a punch where if a guy is right there in front of him where he can find the guy, it’s a very productive punch for him. I think he can do all those things with Ryder theoretically if, as I said if Canelo hasn’t regressed anymore from what I thought I saw was a regression in his last fight against GGG,” said Teddy.
John can make it tough for Alvarez
“Canelo lost every round to Mayweather. He really should have lost to GGG twice,” Atlas said. “He got a draw and a win in the first two fights. I thought he lost both of the first two fights. Most people would concur with that. At least with the first one, I believe.
“He lost 11 of 12 rounds against Bivol, no matter what the psychotic, crooked judges were trying to tell you. He should have lost maybe to [Erislandy] Lara earlier in his career. Again, to call him the greatest Mexican fighter, some people call him that; I just think it’s wrong.
“John Ryder is a tough kid; he deserves a payday. I’m happy he’s getting a payday. He’s earned the right to get a payday, and he’s fought a lot of good fighters.
“Fight Benavidez, fight the top guys,” Atlas said about Canelo. “He could get Ryder out of there. As I said, Ryder is made to order what the doctor ordered to make Canelo feel better if Canelo hasn’t stepped back. I think he’s stepped back a little bit.
“I think Ryder has enough experience, enough grit to at least go some rounds with him. I don’t think he can win the fight,” said Atlas.
