Zach Parker believes Canelo Alvarez is going downhill as a fighter, and he’d like to be the one that faces him next May when he returns to the ring.
The undefeated Parker (22-0, 16 KOs) has a good shot at getting the Canelo fight if he defeats John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder (31-5, 17 KOs) in their fight for the interim WBO super middleweight title this Saturday, November 26th, live on DAZN at the O2 Arena in London.
It’s believed that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) will choose to face the winner of the Parker vs. Ryder fight as his tune-up on Cinco de Mayo next May to get him ready for his rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in September 2023.
The 6’0″ Parker would be a better option for Canelo to help him prepare for Bivol than the shorter, weaker 5’9″ Ryder, who fights nothing like the unbeaten WBA 175-lb champion.
“You just need the right style against him,” Zach Parker told the BBC about Canelo Alvarez.
“You need to be big enough and have the power to keep him off you. He’s on a downward spiral at the minute. I think he’s there to be beaten,” said Parker.
Bivol wasn’t the hugest puncher, but he got the better of Canelo last May by throwing combinations, hitting him with jabs, and moving out of range to keep from getting hit.
When Bivol was stationary, he did a great job of picking off Canelo’s punches with his arms & gloves. Bivol picked off almost everything Canelo threw in the fight.
The judges scored the fight closely at 115-113 x 3 in Bivol’s favor, but many boxing fans felt it was closer to 118-110 for Dmitry or perhaps even 119-109.
“He lost to Bivol, and he didn’t look amazing against an old [Gennadiy] Golovkin,” said Parker about Canelo.
In both of those fights, Canelo gassed out early in the first half and struggled in the second half. Canelo has had stamina issues for many years, but it was more noticeable against Bivol because he faced a guy with a much better gas tank.
Canelo would have been beaten in the first two fights with Golovkin and his match against Daniel Jacobs if those fighters hadn’t started so slowly in the first quarter of those fights. In the last six rounds, Canelo was exhausted and dominated by GGG and Jacobs.
“I’m buzzing to get a world title, and it adds that extra bit with Canelo. That’s the sort of fight you want to be in boxing for,” said Parker.
“He’s not just one of the best boxers out there, but you get a lot of money from that fight which will provide for my family,” said Parker.