Canelo Underwhelms In Mexico
By William Trillo
Photos: Melina Pizano – Matchroom
By now we have all read the reports, Canelo Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) looked far from a World Beater in his unanimous decision victory over John Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) on Saturday night. The question is why?
Did his performance show that he is now on the downside of his career? Did the injury to his recently repaired wing resurface? Did his inability to handle southpaw fighters rear its ugly head again? Or was Ryder more than he, or anyone else for that matter, bargained for?
The jury remains out on this one, but whatever the case may be, Canelo looked pedestrian at best in front of his hometown audience.
Regardless of the reason, Canelo was victorious and now he says he wants another shot at Dmitry Bivol in a 175-pound rematch. That’s all well and good, but Bivol has made it clear a rematch will take place at 168 pounds for all Canelo’s belts.
It’s doubtful Canelo wants to put his stranglehold on the 168-pound division on the line, so we will see if and when a rematch is made…if ever.
I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Ryder who came to fight, and though bloodied and down in round five, Ryder managed to get up and make a decent showing for himself in going the 12-round distance. Good on you John
Scorecards that read 120-107, 118-109, 118-109, all in favor of Canelo, were generous. Ryder won at least three rounds, maybe four.
Dipping into the undercard, no one is ever going to put WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (20-2, 14 KOs) on their Pound4Pound list, but this little guy is always fun to watch. His 11th round KO victory over Ronal Batista (15-3, 9 KOs) put him on the must-see radar.
Don’t look now but “The Nail” Gvozdyk (19-1, 15 KOs) is back!
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