John Ryder felt “disrespected” by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez when the Mexican started discussing the possibility of a rematch with Dmitrii Bivol later this year.
Alvarez lost to Bivol in May 2022 and has made little secret of his desire for revenge. He most recently spoke about again fighting the Russian having already agreed to fight Ryder, however, suggesting he considers the Briton as much of an underdog as almost everyone else.
They fight at Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium on Cinco de Mayo weekend on the occasion of Alvarez’s first fight in Mexico for 12 years.
The Mexican, 32, remains widely thought of as one of the world’s leading fighters, but asked of the prospect of Bivol-Alvarez II, Ryder – who had long been in contention to challenge him – said: “I felt a bit disrespected at him already talking about a rematch. But when everyone already knows that he fights twice a year – on Cinco de Mayo weekend and in September – it makes it up to me to put on a performance and make sure I’m the one in the opposite corner for a rematch later this year.
“I don’t agree that him losing that fight means he’s in decline. But I do think 2022 was the worst year of his career – he lost to Bivol, and then he didn’t look great against Gennady Golovkin when everyone was expecting him to blast Golovkin out of there, even though Golovkin’s not the kind of fighter you do that to. He also injured his wrist and had to have surgery. Now we’ll all see what he’s got left.”
The 34-year-old Ryder and his trainer Tony Sims have previously defeated an opponent trained by the respected Eddy Reynoso, who on Saturday will again be in Alvarez’s corner.
Sims is regardless encouraged by Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, discussing fighting Russia’s Bivol, in the belief that it means he is not fully focused on the task at hand.
“I’ve seen that a lot,” he said. “That’s good that he’s doing that because what he’s doing is taking his mind away from John. For us, that’s a good thing.
“John’s so experienced now – he’s been a pro such a long time. He’s boxed on big cards; he’s topped big cards in the UK; he’s boxed in the States. He’s done pretty much everything in boxing in his career so I don’t think he’ll be fazed at all by the crowd.
“John boxed an Eddy Reynoso fighter in Bilal Akkawy [in 2019] and knocked him out, so we’ve already been up against Eddy Reynoso with John. I’m 1-0 up against him – he needs to pull it back [smiles]. I’ve been there and done that.”
