A lot has been made of Canelo Alvarez’s next fight against John Ryder taking place at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, on May 6th, on DAZN pay-per-view. Canelo, who was the clear choice for the boxer of the year in 2021, had a miserable 2022 in which he lost to Dmitry Bivol and had one of the biggest pay-per-view flops in terms of a performance when he fought Gennadiy Golovkin for the third time. Canelo might have won the fight, but didn't win many fans in the process.
Now Canelo will face John Ryder, a mostly domestic European-level fighter, who fought Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding tough and defeated both Daniel Jacobs as well as Zach Parker last year. Ryder is the most dangerous man in the room, as no one seems to give him a shot, except for himself.
Ryder is currently riding a three-fight win streak though many observers ringside felt that Ryder got a bad decision against Callum Smith, whom he fought in November of 2019. Prior to that Ryder hadn’t lost until losing a split decision to Rocky Fielding in a very close fight. So essentially, Ryder hasn’t been outclassed in a fight in over seven years.
“It’s been a great experience doing this press tour. We had the pleasure of going to the stadium, look at the stadium, imagine the ring in the middle of the stadium, and what 50,000 are going to look like. It’s been great to spend some quality time with John as well just on this trip. One person I want to take this opportunity to thank who couldn’t be here because the schedules clashed was Tony Sims,” said Charlie Sims, the manager of John Ryder and who also happens to be the son of Ryder’s trainer, Tony Sims. “Tony Sims is a trainer with John Ryder, he’s dedicated years and years to the sport and years and years of developing John into the fighter he is today. They’ve been through all the lows together and now this is the pinnacle. He’s going to face the best in the division, the undisputed champion, Canelo Alvarez.”
Ryder is a blue-collar fighter facing the face of boxing in Canelo Alvarez, a dream come true for many, but the high-volume fighter, who is best known for his will just as much as his skill, will now have the shot of a lifetime to beat one of the historical greats of the modern era. This is something that Ryder seems well aware of.
“I’m not here for a holiday and I wouldn’t bring the team with me, have the team around me that I have if I didn’t believe I could win. I’m going, leaving no stone unturned, putting everything in this camp and truly believe I can come away victorious on May 6,” said Ryder who scoffed at the idea that he isn’t coming to win. Obviously the decision went against us in 2019, then the Covid times hit, which really messed everything up, but like you say, and I truly believe, timing is everything in this sport. It waits for no man, but the timing is right for me now.”
