John Ryder believes Jermell Charlo has a chance of beating the Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez if he takes the fight up close and stays there all night on September 30th.
Ryder had his best success on the inside last May and was able to land a lot of shots on the undisputed upper middleweight champion Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs).
Unfortunately for Ryder, that’s also where he ran into trouble, getting dropped and suffering a broken nose from a perfectly timed uppercut from Canelo.
If Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) fights on the outside, he won’t land enough of his shots due to Canelo’s head movement, making it impossible to win a decision.
Ryder says Canelo is still at his best, and he expects him to defeat Charlo by a decisive 12 round unanimous decision.
Charlo is moving up two weight classes from 154 to challenge the A-side Canelo for his four belts in the headliner on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event begins at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Jermell has a lot going for him
“Yeah, he’s an aging fighter. He’s had a lot of busy years. 2021 took a lot out of him, unifying the division and then the loss to Bivol and then the win over Golovkin. It was a good win, he beat him every round, but he looked a bit lackluster,” said John Ryder to Fight Hub TV about Canelo Alvarez showing signs of wear.
It wasn’t the best idea for Canelo to move up to 175 to challenge Dmitry Bivol for his WBA title, but he may have chosen to do that to get the boxing fans off his back. They were saying that he was ducking David Benavidez, which could be true, but he showed courage by fighting Bivol.
“He came back, had surgery on his wrist, and then came back against me. He’s still the real deal,” Ryder said. “He still has a lot left to give. I know there’s going to be a lot of eyes on him on September 30th for the Charlo fight, but it’s a fight that he’s going to come through and come through well. Where he goes from there, I don’t know.
“He’s got a lot on his side. He’s coming up in weight, and he’s probably a naturally bigger man anyway, with Canelo starting at welterweight,” Ryder said about Jermell.
“I’m sure the process will be a lot easier for Charlo. He doesn’t have to cut weight. He is probably going to have a lot more enjoyable camp than he has ever working on tactics than losing weight for the fight,” said Ryder.
Putting on a lot of weight could slow Jermell down, making him slower & easier to hit. He was hit a lot in his last two fights against Brian Castano. If Canelo lands as frequently as Castano, we could see a knockout.
“I’m sure he’ll come in fresh and look to cause the upset. I think it’ll be a cagey affair. I think Charlo will come out early and try and press forward, but he’ll realize that he’s not going to get away with that, throwing caution to the wind a bit and throwing less,” Ryder said.
Charlo must fight on inside
“When you think you’re having success, you’re really not. He’s looking at what’s next, and he’s watching how you throw that shot and how the other hand goes,” said Ryder about his observations about Canelo he learned from their recent fight against May.
Jermell has got to change things up the way Dmitry Bivol did if he wants to keep Canelo guessing. He can’t afford to be predictable because he’ll nail him with one of his big power shots to break some facial bones like he did against Ryder & Billy Joe Saunders.
“Honestly, that uppercut he threw was timed to perfection. I saw it coming, but there was no time to get out of the way of it. You just have to be careful because he’s always waiting,” said Ryder.
“Even when you think you’re having success, you’re really not. He’s luring you in, giving you that false sense of security. I think Charlo has got a chance if he can take it to him up close and work way up close.
“I was having a lot of success there [up close against Canelo], but I couldn’t sustain it. I think he’ll beat him well, Canelo. I don’t know if he’ll stop him, but I’ll say he beats him wide on points,” said Ryder.
