John Ryder is one of few men to have taken Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez the distance in a world title fight, so if’s of little surprise that people are keen for his predictions on the Mexican’s upcoming bout with Jermell Charlo.
That bout was back in May at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico, in front of a vast and hostile crowd. It was Canelo’s first home fight in over a decade.
He controlled Ryder and dropped him in round five, eventually winning via unanimous decision. The valiant Ryder fought much of the fight with a badly broken nose and was later heralded by Canelo as the toughest of the many Brits he has faced.
But he will in fact be making the jump up two weight divisions for the clash in Las Vegas on September 30, when Alvarez will be looking to successfully defend his undisputed super-middleweight status for a third time.
Speaking to Fight Hub, Ryder was asked about the upcoming bout and whether Canelo is ‘slipping.’
“Yeah, I think he’s an ageing fighter. He’s had a lot of busy years. 2021 took a lot out of him after Covid then having three fights in a year and unifying the division and losing to [Dimitry] Bivol. The win over [Gennadiy] Golovkin was a good win but he looked a bit lacklustre.”
Ryder still had plenty of praise for Canelo who he called ‘still the real deal’ with ‘a lot to give’ before breaking down the upcoming fight with Charlo.
“Charlo looks the bigger man and I’m sure he’ll come in fresh and look to cause the upset. I think he’ll come out early and try and press forward but will realise he won’t get away with that and will end up throwing less. I think Charlo has a chance if he takes him to him and works up close.”
Despite his optimism for Charlo’s chances, Ryder still ultimately only sees one winner.
“I think [Canelo ] will beat him well, wide on points.”