Canelo Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) looked like he caught a tiger by the tail with the grueling war that John Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) brought upon him in a twelve round unanimous decision win for the undisputed super middleweight champion on Saturday night at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The judges had it wide for Canelo by the scores: 120-107, 118-109, and 118-109. Ryder deserved better scoring than that, but considering the location of the fight, being in Canelo’s hometown, the scoring was par for the course.
The reality is Ryder fought well enough to win four to five rounds. He won the championship rounds – 9, 10, 11, and 12. On top of that, he fought well enough to win the first round. That’s five rounds.
Canelo knocked Ryder down in the fifth round but didn’t hurt him. Indeed, Ryder got up and took the fight to Canelo, fighting back hard, causing the Mexican star to gas out.
It would have been a major shock if the judges had turned in a set of scores that matched the fight that took place inside the ring tonight.
It’s fair to say that Canelo thought he was in for an uncomplicated night after the five rounds, but Ryder kept forward with unrelenting pressure, intent on getting his pound of flesh and putting a hurting on the Mexican star.
Ryder walked through fire, taking Canelo’s best shots that caused other fighters to wilt, but he kept marching forward in the tiny ring, trading shots at close range.
By the championship rounds 9, 10, 11, and 12, Canelo had nothing left and was eating a lot of shots from Ryder. Canelo was able to take them, but he got hit more than this writer can ever remember in any of his fights.
Not even Dmitry Bivol or Gennadiy Golovkin put hands on Canelo the Ryder did tonight. The reason is simple. Ryder was willing to stand in front of Canelo, trading shots and not backing off the way Bivol and Golovkin did.
Rynder’s nose and mouth were bloody from the third round on, but he fought as if impervious to pain and kept landing shots on Canelo despite the leaking blood.
At the end of the fight, both fighters looked beaten up, and you could tell it was a hard fight for both guys. Again, Canelo looked more beaten around the face than this writer has ever seen him look in a fight. Ryder isn’t the biggest puncher, but it’s damaging if you land as often as he did.
Canelo showed his age tonight, and from the way he performed, he’ll be torn apart by WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol if the two fight in a rematch in September. Also, David Benavidez and David Morrell would be a nightmare for Canelo.
