Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is a whopping -1800 favorite to retain his WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO belts against WBO mandatory challenger John Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) in the big fight of the coming weekend at the 50,000-seat Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The bout can be seen on DAZN PPV for $54.99 if you’re a subscriber.
In the co-feature, WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (19-2, 14 KOs) defends against Ronal Batista 15-2, 9 KOs). Other notable bouts include light welterweight contender Steve Spark (16-2, 14 KOs) against Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (26-3-1, 16 KOs), and combacking former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (18-1, 14 KOs) against Ricards Bolotniks (19-6-1, 8 KOs).
Of course, he’s an 18:1 underdog lol. He might as well be fighting me. I’ve grown to appreciate Canelo the man a great deal, however, this fight is not going to prepare him to run it back with Bivol as he claimed he wanted. What is the point of this fight? He already beat up a GGG to build confidence. I don’t know why he won’t just tune up Benavidez. It became apparent in Benavidez’s last fight Canelo is going to light him up like a Christmas tree. He couldn’t handle Plant’s boxing so what is he going to do against Canelo who has more thump in his punches? At this point in his career, he shouldn’t be fighting dudes like this.
Its a mandatory he wont refuse that will generate a huge payday and a good showing to hyoe the Bivol rematch
If you refuse a mandatory challenger you risk being stripped of the titles. Canelo wont allow that to happen.
This is Canelo we’re talking about. I’m sure they would extend that mandatory for a big showdown with Bivol.
I lost respect for Canelo after I realized that he avoids African-American fighters like the plague. He cannot deal with the fast twitch fiber muscles, speed, stamina, and athleticism, hence he is always fighting these stand up, European fighters and when he does fight one that’s a boxer such as a Billy Joe Saunders or Caleb Plant (American-European) its a carbon copy of the real thing. Bivol was a little too big and young for Canelo. Facts!
I was about to reply to you DMV, but I don’t even know if you’re being serious – now that I think about it.
Ryder got this fight by fighting guys like Danny Jacobs and Zach Parker. He may have gotten a little lucky in both fights but the point is…he showed up and fought and is now being rewarded for it. He took whatever money was offered and that got him to this position.
I thought Jacobs beat him, but it isn’t Ryder’s fault – he isn’t a judge. A lot of people thought he beat Callum Smith and had he gotten that decision, this fight probably would have taken place already. He did what he had to do and put himself in position to be a mandatory and now he’s getting his shot. Nothing wrong with him being there.
I thought Jacobs won as well but it was close. I would say Ryder got the benefit of the doubt at home in a close fight. Plus Jacobs already lost to Canelo so normally when one has been at the top, had their shot and lost without controversy, they do not get the benefit of the doubt in those close fights. Canelo-Jacobs was not a bad fight but there was nothing about it that would put a rematch in demand. Plus Jacobs has not had performances since that would put it in demand either. I tried to think of a comparison and I say this is like John Ruiz fighting a slightly past his prime Mike Tyson. (i.e. like the Tyson who fought Ruddock).
Really? Erislandy Lara, Danial Jacobs plus he fought 5 world champions in a row and beat all and your making a stupid racial remark that black people are better fighters? Last time I checked those muscle fibers, speed and stamina didn’t help y’all with The Gypsy King.
Fury got size on his side and is ab exception. Boxing is a black mans sport generally speaking.
DMV, all four belts canelo owns he won from white fighters that were “champions” and i am sure theses guys fought black fighters. And if for some reason there are no black fighters at super middle weight at least ranked ones, how is it canelos fault. Facts is what I am writing about, Charlo is still a middleweight, eubank just got spanked by a white fighter Canelo already made quit. Now this Cuban fighter which is a mandatory for canelos WBOcrown…he is actually a threat. What he is not is fast twitch, full of stamina or African American.., well he actually is but you’d find a way to disqualifing because it doesn’t feed you narrative.
Seems like all the fighters Canelo beat were world champions, perhaps, they weren’t any african Americans with titles available. Lose credibility when one plays victim.
Many Black people are totally oblivious to their racism or maybe they just think they’re entitled to it!
YES THEY ARE ENTITLED TO IT. They owe you lot a whole lot of payback.
If they don’t like it they are welcome to return to Africa but I see no takers. BTW where I am from, in Africa, the Black man’s racism towards minorities is raging out of control. But there is NOTHING worse in this world than how Black treats Black. Time to focus on this instead of obsessing about the faults of others.
The worst racists are those who somehow think they are entitled to it.
You raise some good points. Does Canelo avoid “African American fighters?” Perhaps… He hasn’t fought one since 2019 and sparingly throughout his career. Its not like he didn’t have the opportunity to fight Charlo. His coach likely influenced his decision as well. Canelo’s coach is on record of saying, “African American style is the most difficult.” It appears they know his limits. However, I respect Canelo because he is his own man. I disagree with him not fighting other Mexican fighters (that may change). However, he is unlike a lot of his Mexican counterparts in that he will root for an African American fighter against a Mexican fighter ala Tank Davis vs Ryan Garcia.
Canelo stopped Sergey Kovalev at 175 who happens to be the same size as Bivol so how is Bivol “a little too big” for Canelo? It had nothing to do with size as Pacquiao, Pernell Whitaker, Tank Davis and so many others have proven. Bivol is a high-IQ boxer and beat Canelo in a similar shutout fashion as Mayweather. Canelo has issues with certain styles. Bivol proved that skin color wasn’t a factor.
PPV?????? For this??????
I wonder if they are charging PPV in Mexico at a reduced price. At least claims are that they will get 60K attendance. Good that he is fighting again in his home country so they can see him, but wrong to charge the big neighbor country a PPV to help pay the purse he is accustomed too. Reports are that the base purse total is 91% Canelo (10M) vs Ryder getting base (1M) with salaries being $33M if PPV reaches just 500k buys, and Ryder getting 3.3M in that case.
I hope it reaches 500 PPV buys so Ryder can get a great payday, I think any fighter should get at least a 70/30 split.
I bet many of you forgot Dazn saying they were killing PPV, but I didnt. Dazn gave a Canelo a crazy amount of money to fight these same type of fights, in hopes he would give the fans the fights they want.
The promoters understand they can cash out on the loyal Mexican fans no matter who he fights and thats what they will continue to do.
I got ripped off and charged 3x for the Davis-Garcia PPV on Dazn, not going to do it again.
Undercard doesn’t push the needle.
Ouch, charge three times, hope you got your refund. Good Luck.
“I got ripped off and charged 3x for the Davis-Garcia PPV on Dazn, not going to do it again.”
– Why don’t you spend a one-time $35 for an Amazon Fire Stick?
– No more spending money on PPV.
Will this be free on espn?
Knowing the greed of promoters, I am sure we will have to pay something to see it. 🙂
Yes, I am being serious, Lucie, you can respond or not, your choice; and the narrative you reference USS Haze Gray is a narrative believed by many. At this point, Canelo avoids black fighters, and Mexican fighters for that matter, period. So why would he fight an old GGG, Plant, Smith, Fielding, Avdrim, and Saunders but won’t even negotiate with Charlo (both Charlos called him out at 154 lbs and160 lb), Andrade, or Benavidez? Spence called him out as well and was willing to go to 160. There are European fighters that are good fighters, but their style suits Canelo’s style at this juncture of his career, just like you may say Mayweather would rather fight fighters a little past their prime later on in his career.
The obvious thing to do would be to reference all of the African American fighters he did fight right up until a few years ago with Daniel Jacobs.
If you actually do feel that way — fine — you’re entitled to your opinion. I don’t see it, personally. Realistically, there’s only Jermall Charlo (who hasn’t fought in two years) and Andrade (who had the opportunity to be where Ryder is now but he turned down Zach Parker and didn’t fight at all in 2022) and neither one of them have fought anyone really. I don’t know why they don’t fight each other. I’m not going to say anything about Jermell and certainly not Spence because, no matter how good he is, can you imagine the stuff people would say about Canelo fighting a welterweight?
Smith, Plant, Fielding and Saunders all had titles when Canelo was trying to unify 168. Benavidez had one as well, but he got stripped (TWICE) and Yildirim was a mandatory. He signed a contract saying he’d fight GGG after he fought Bivol and probably got paid some ridiculous number for it. Fine. Good for him. The next time he fights at 168, his opponent should be Benavidez who has earned his shot by beating Plant; outside of that, I don’t have much of a problem with who Canelo has fought, but that’s just my opinion.
I don’t know if I concur with your post that Canelo avoids “the fast twitch fiber muscles, speed, stamina, and athleticism” of black fighters, but lets dig into it a bid further.
Black Fighter — Floyd Mayweather gave Canelo his first official lost and in a way was humiliated, which for a fighter is something that can stay with you forever. One can argue that Floyd was in his prime and Canelo was not, debatable..
Black or Latino — depend on how Lara sees himself. Erislandy Lara most boxing fans thought that Lara won’t that fight, myself included.
Black– Anthony Dirrell crashed one of Canelo fight to ask for a fight, and Canelo said that he was a boring fighter. So you can see that Canelo was not going to fight him, and now that he lost to Plant, Dirrell does not have a case.
Black or Latino — David Morrell, Canelo said he has some fights line up, after that who knows, to me it seems as Canelo would not be fighting Morrell anytime soon.
I think Canelo could be apprehensive to fight black fighters for their elusiveness style, and ring generalship, for Mexican they consider this type of style as running and not fighting.
Also, due to his first defeat and the Lara fight, I think these fights affected or bothered him.
Now to be fair to Canelo which 168 black/black latino fighters are top contender? I can only think of David Morrell. Christian Mbilli is still green and not ready for Canelo. Also, as a A side fighter you earn the right to choose who to fight with other than mandatories. I am sure Floyd, Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. at some point picked opponents that were more suitable to their styles or beatable.
Didn’t know the nail was coming back, how did he end up on a Canelo undercard of all places. Hopefully he still has a bit left at 36yo.
Can’t wait for Canelo to win and raise the latest edition of WBC “special” mickey mouse belts
Ryder is dangerous and always in condition, beat all over Daniel Jacobs who claimed he beat Canelo. Will be interesting while it last.
Ryder is a plucky fighter who is more likely to get ko’d trying to win than safely going the distance.
Ryder is a good fighter, but style wise he is tailermade for Canelo. He will be right in front of him, and he isn’t all that athletic or much of a boxer. If I’m Canelo just go after Benavidez. More marketable fight. Bivol is a boring fighter who will put me to sleep again boxing circles around Canelo
As a fan, I think Canelo could of have a better opponent, specially if there are fighters that can give him a though challenge and the fans a good show. Now, to be fair to Canelo, he is not the only A fighter who is fighting his share of taxi cab drivers or tomato cans. Also, if this fight is not appealing to me or to the fans, we can choose not to support it by not paying for it (gate or livestream)
18-1! That is why this fight will be a PPV bust. Canelo needs to step up and fight Benividez Not easy soft fights like this. It is embarrassing.
Well if you had 18 million to bet, that’s a free million
As the old timers used to say that would be like risking a forest to win a toothpick.
“The bout can be seen on DAZN PPV for $54.99 if you’re a subscriber.”
– Thank you, again, Amazon Fire Stick, for another $55 not spent…..
Lets go Ryder!!!
better opponent needed here….
Khan is retired?
Canelo is a frontrunner who cherry picks.
Yawn x 1000.
18-1 and still gotta pay 50$ no thanks. Canelos gonna lose
Expected! This is a kill time fight for canelo while, he keeps real opposition waiting!
Forbes’ highest-paid Athletes 2023:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo: $136m
2. Lionel Messi: $130m
3. Kylian Mbappe: $120m
4. LeBron James: $119.5m
5. Canelo Alvarez: $110m
6. Dustin Johnson $107m
7. Phil Mickelson: $106m
8. Stephen Curry: $100.4m
9. Roger Federer: $95.1m
10. Kevin Durant: $89.1m