Last night, in the Canelo Alvarez-John Ryder fight, we were given a classic example of a fighter losing but winning. Ryder, who was widely expected to be knocked out or stopped by the Mexican star, instead gutted it out all the way to the final bell, with the British southpaw even having some success in the later rounds, this as Canelo appeared to tire some.
Indeed, Ryder’s stock went up in defeat. Now, the ‘I’ll fight anyone’ warrior from London is looking, already, at his next move. And promoter Eddie Hearn is already looking at Ryder’s next fight. The boxing world moves fast, and Ryder, his nose broken, will need some quality time off before he returns to training, but Hearn has said how “big names will want to fight John Ryder now.”
Certainly, Ryder earned much respect in battling the biggest name in the sport (arguably) for all 12 rounds, and his profile will go up as a result. Hearn likes the idea of Ryder fighting Gennady Golovkin, perhaps later this year. Ryder, who also spoke with IFL TV, said he would love to “share the ring with another great fighter.” Ryder says he has been a fan of Canelo for years, and he said that he has also been a fan of GGG for years.
Could this fight happen? It wasn’t long ago when GGG, now aged 41, announced how he would be “leaving boxing for an indefinite period of time.” It is possible Triple-G will not return, his career done. Would a Ryder fight tempt Golovkin back? It may seem doubtful to some.
But whoever he fights next, Ryder deserves a big payday, he deserves to appear on another big stage, and Ryder deserves to be respected by all. If he wasn’t before last night, he sure is now. Stopped just once as a pro, this by Nick Blackell in a British middleweight title fight back in May of 2015, Ryder, 32-6(18) showed again last night that he is one of the genuine tough guys of the sport.
Never in a dull fight, 34 year Ryder may never be world champion (or then again, maybe he will be; Ryder did win the interim WBO belt at 168 with his win over Zach Parker in his fight of last November), but he will always give his all. Warriors like John Ryder really and truly are the backbone of this great sport.
