It was all systems go for John Ryder up until last week.
Ryder had been training for a fight on June 26 against WBA super-middleweight ‘world’ champion David Morrell but on June 4 Ryder’s plans went south when it was announced that the Cuban would instead be facing Mario Cázares. The news of the Cuban’s first title defence came as a surprise to Ryder, his trainer Tony Sims and his promoter Eddie Hearn.
The PBC show will go ahead as listed and on Wednesday, through a translator, Morrell gave his side as to why the Ryder fight did not go ahead on the Premier Boxing Champions podcast.
“You know what the problem was? Too many excuses,” Morrell said. “I wasn’t the right opponent for him or this or that and there was a point where my team and I decided you know what we’re just going to look for another opponent because we don’t have forever to wait for him. So, whenever he’s up for the challenge I’ll be ready.”
Boxing Social spoke to Ryder on Wednesday to get his comments on the situation.
“I found out I wouldn’t be fighting him when his fight against Cazares got announced last week. Luckily, my mate had seen it on Twitter, screenshotted it and sent it to me,” said Ryder. “I found out from my best mate so that was a cushion to the blow. I sent it to Tony, and he was surprised as I was and then got on Eddie’s case, and I think Eddie was as surprised as we were as well.”
Ryder told Boxing Social that Hearn is now in discussions with the relevant parties to find a resolution to the matter that would hopefully see Ryder getting a shot at Morrell’s title later in the year.
“We want the fight to take place by September. Hopefully something’s agreed. Hopefully Eddie can clear some stuff up. [Morrell is] fighting on the 26th and hopefully I really am fighting him next.”
It was an unexpected kick in the teeth for Ryder, but he remains fully positive. ‘The Gorilla’, however, is unsure whether to have one more fight in between (hopefully) fighting Morrell in September.
“It’s a hard one. These tick over fights are bumps in the road. It’s what do you do. I’ve been training hard, I’ve been keeping fit, obviously I don’t want an extended period of time out of the ring again. I just want to keep as busy as possible. I’ve been training since Christmas, training smart, not overdoing it. Just keeping fit, keeping well and waiting on news. Ticking over nicely at the moment ready just to pick it up and go as I need to.
“It could be a bit of a rush,” he added. “In for a [tick over] fight then straight back into a camp [for Morrell]. It’s one of them ones you get into the fight going through the motions not wanting to get cut, not wanting to get a busted hand and you’re not showing the best of yourself. So, I don’t know if it’s best to wait until September and go for it then.”
Ryder may have been without a fight since beating Mike Guy last December on the Gennadiy Golovkin-Kamil Szeremeta undercard but a trip to Dallas last month proved to be a valuable one. The former world title challenger flew out for the Canelo Alvarez- Billy Joe Saunders fight looking to boost his profile and meet some new faces. It was mission accomplished.
“I was going over there to promote myself and build my name and I got a good head start on it,” he said.
“I’m a massive Canelo fan, I’ve shared the ring with Billy Joe, and it was great to be out there and soak it up. Great to see 73,000 fans there as well, an atmosphere like no other. Unbelievable. Hats off to Eddie as well. Look at what’s he’s doing, it’s great for boxing and I’m just lucky enough to be a part of it. Just to see it, to meet Canelo, meet a lot of good fighters out there and just really lap it up. I want to be a part of these big nights myself.”