Saul 'Canelo’ Alvarez vs John Ryder fight verdict and suggested bets
- Matty Briggs
- 3 May 2023
Canelo Alvarez returns home to fight in Mexico for the first time in 12 years this weekend and British super middleweight John Ryder is the man hoping to spoil the homecoming party.
Date, start time and venue
Saturday, May 6, Estadio Akron, Guadalajara, Mexico. Twelve rounds for the undisputed super middleweight championship. Start time 12am BST, main ring walks, 4am BST (Sunday, May 7). Live on DAZN PPV.
Suggested bet
Fight to go over 8.5 rounds
Canelo vs Ryder undercard
Julio Cesar Martinez vs Ronal Batista
Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela vs Steve Spark
Nathan Devon Rodriguez vs. Alexander Mejia
Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Ricards Bolotniks
Bek Nurmaganbet vs. Argenis Espana
Lawrence King vs. Elio German Rafael
Johansen Alvarez Suarez vs. Johan Rodriguez Arreguin
Abilkhan Amankul vs. Jesus Moroyoqui Palomares
Carlos Emiliano Rojo vs. Fabian Trejo Rivera
Jesus Larios vs. Alejandro Curiel
Canelo vs Ryder fight preview
Islington's John 'The Gorilla' Ryder is aiming to cause one of the biggest shocks in boxing history this weekend when he fights Canelo Alvarez in his own backyard.
The Brit will challenge for champion Alvarez's 168lb crowns in a bid to become England's first undisputed male champion in the four-belt era.
Over 50,000 fans will be in attendance at the Estadio Akron on Cinco de Mayo weekend, as Ryder makes his second appearance in a world title fight.
But the 34-year-old southpaw has it all to do against a champion, who has unrivalled experience and a record that shows just two defeats - against Floyd Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol.
Canelo (58-2-2) lost to the unbeaten Mayweather when he was just 19 and the loss to Bivol last summer came at light heavyweight. The Mexican could go after Bivol again if he gets the job done against Ryder, but Canelo is too clued up to have that on his mind.
Canelo is simply a fighter that has very few weaknesses and Ryder will need to produce a career-best performance to get close to beating him.
Ryder does though have experience of a world title fight, having controversially lost on the cards to Callum Smith in November 2019.
The Liverpudlian defended his WBA super middleweight title, winning 116-112, 117-111, 116-112 on the scorecards, but it was a much closer fight than those cards suggest. Smith was cut badly around the right eye and Ryder's front-foot style caused the younger man problems.
Ryder is the ultimate pressure fighter and he showed that against Smith and he is very skilled at fighting inside. He did have success against the rangy Smith getting in close and he will no doubt try and ruffle Canelo early on.
Of course Canelo has also fought Smith, beating the Brit by unanimous decision in December 2020. But Canelo's performance was far more dominant and in fact it was one-sided battering.
Smith lasted the 12 rounds though, losing 119-109, 119-109, 117-111.
More recently Ryder disposed of Daniel Jacobs in February 2022. But the win came in controversial fashion with a number of pundits believing the American won the fight.
Two judges scored the fight 115-113 for Ryder, while the third scored the fight 115-113 to Jacobs at London's Alexandra Palace,
Canelo also got the better of Jacobs in 2019. The fight also went the distance, judges Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld scored it 115-113. Glenn Feldman scored it 116-112 all in favour of Canelo.
Alvarez dominated the first half of the fight, but Jacobs, who looked the bigger man came back strongly, but had too much to do in the second half of the contest.
The pair also share Billy Joe Saunders as an opponent. Canelo beat Saunders in eight rounds in 2021 with the Brit's team throwing in the towel after their man suffered a nasty eye injury.
As for Ryder, he narrowly lost on points to Saunders way back in 2013.
Canelo vs Ryder verdict
Everything points to a Canelo win, and it's hard to see any other outcome.
The Mexican can fight in a number of different styles and if Ryder closes the distance and steps inside then Canelo will meet fire with fire.
The champion has undergone surgery on his left hand though. After beating Gennadiy Golovkin for the third time in September, he needed an operation. Whether that will be an issue against Ryder is unclear, but that could be the weakness that the Brit could exploit.
Canelo looks to have the advantage in power over Ryder, with a 67% knock out percentage over Ryder's 56%. And he is also the younger man by two years, but Ryder does hold a two-inch reach advantage.
That is unlikely to come into play, with Ryder expected to get up close and personal. Just how he deals with getting his arms and torso worked on by a fighter carrying the power that Canelo does, will be key.
Ryder (32-5-0) is tough though and has only been knocked out once - against British middleweight Nick Blackwell in 2015.
There's every chance that Ryder, who is 8/1 to triumph, can go the distance in Mexico, but he might just find it hard to land the telling shots to sway the judges in his favour.
