Canelo Alvarez Dominates but Goes the Distance with Stubborn John Ryder

A massive crowd in Guadalajara celebrated the return of their native son as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez battered but could not finish England’s strong John Ryder in retaining the undisputed super middleweight championship by unanimous decision on Saturday.

It was a competitive spectacle that pleased both sides.

“Feels different because there is a lot of responsibility,” said Alvarez about the hometown crowd. “It’s very special for me.”

In his first fight after surgery to his left hand, Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) powered past the southpaw Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) in front of more than 50,000 fans at Estadio Akron. Despite the hometown fans yearning for a knockout win, it would not come.

But it almost did.

Alvarez scored a riveting knockdown with a one-two combination to the point of Ryder’s chin in the fifth round and down he went. It looked like the end for the British fighter who defeated Daniel Jacobs, but he would not quit. He rallied for the remainder of the round.

“He’s a strong fighter. I’m not surprised about it,” said Alvarez about Ryder’s tenacity.

With blood flowing from his nose as early as the third round, Ryder pushed on and never stopped trying to fight Mexican strongman Alvarez on the inside. The London fighter connected often with left uppercuts inside but never cleanly enough to hurt Alvarez.

Alvarez blasted away at the British fighter’s body, arms and chest and when the openings came the Mexican redhead connected to the head with precision. But Ryder seemed more accustomed to the power and absorbed them much better.

In the ninth round Alvarez blasted away at Ryder who reeled and wobbled from the blows to the head. It looked like the end was coming for the British fighter but somehow he mustered up determination and fought back as hard as possible.

Alvarez took notice.

“He’s a very strong fighter. Man, you know when he’s going for everything he’s turning it on,” said Alvarez about Ryder.

Ryder rallied in the 10^th round with blows up and down against Alvarez’s defense. Not everything landed but some connected and it seemed to be the British fighter’s round. He was not about to quit.

Alvarez grabbed the next round back with accurate rights and the same combination that dropped Ryder earlier in the fight. This time the Londoner was able to survive the impact.

Strangely, it was obvious that Alvarez seldom used the left hook to the head. Was it because of the surgery or was it because of the southpaw stance of Ryder. Was Alvarez confident in his left hand?

“Not in the beginning,” Alvarez said adding that he is now confident in his left. “I needed to start punching and now I know.”

Knowing that only a knockout could win the fight, Ryder mustered up a good effort and out-punched Alvarez in the last round. But no punch came close to hurting the undisputed super middleweight champion.

Alvarez was judged the winner 120-107, 118-109 twice by the judges and remains the world champion.

“It’s an historic moment for me. I’m blessed to be here with my people,” said Alvarez.

After the win Alvarez said he wants Dmitry Bivol next, to avenge his last loss to the light heavyweight world titlist.

“We want Bivol. If the fight does not happen then we will see,” Alvarez said.

WBC Flyweight Title

WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez (20-2, 15 KOs) had a rough time figuring out Panama’s Ronal Batista (15-3, 9 KOs) but after a knockdown midway through the fight the antidote was clear as he proceeded to knock out the challenger.

Martinez looked to overpower Batista who pecked away at the Mexican fighter’s body with success. Though the Mexican power puncher connected it didn’t seem to phase his foe.

In the sixth round Martinez floored Batista with a left hook but the referee ruled it a slip. After the round ended WBC’s Mauricio Sulaiman walked over to inform the referee that a further review on tape showed a clear knockdown and not a slip or trip. The round was given to Martinez.

From that point on the Mexican fighter seemed to gain momentum and behind a strong jab closed the distance with Batista and began to connect with big blows.

Batista rallied and pecked away at the head and boy of Martinez but it wasn’t enough to match the Mexican’s power shots.

Finally, in championship rounds, Martinez turned on the power and unloaded a dozen unanswered blows that pinned Batista against the ropes and forced referee Celestino Ruiz to stop the fight at 1:00 of the 11^th round.

Other Bouts

A knockdown proved critical as Mexico’s Gabriel Gollaz (27-3-1, 16 KOs) won by split decision over Australia’s Stevie Spark (16-3, 14 KOs) in a super lightweight title match pitting two hard-hitters.

Spark started quickly with his pressure style and Mexico’s Gollaz was content to counter with uppercuts and long lefts and rights. It looked like the Australian would dominate until Gollaz unloaded with 14 unanswered blows including a body shot that floored Spark.

The Australian pressure fighter survived and managed to win three of the next four rounds but that wasn’t enough. One judge gave Spark the win 95-94 but two others saw Gollaz the winner 96-93 and 95-94. The knockdown proved the difference.

Pico Rivera, California’s Nathan Rodriguez (11-0, 7 KOs) was hand-picked by Canelo’s trainer to become a disciple and showed polished skills in defeating Nicaragua’s solid veteran Alexander Mejia (19-6, 8 KOs) by majority decision.

It was Rodriguez, 18, first 10-round bout and the tall featherweight looked smooth and composed on defending against the aggressive approaches of Mejia. From the first round to the eighth round Rodriguez hit and moved around the small ring against Mejia who unloaded with blows to the head and body nonstop.

Perhaps unsure of his own stamina Rodriguez finally opened up in the ninth and 10^th round and stood his ground in countering, weaving and firing lethal uppercuts with right and lefts. It was mesmerizing stuff to see the accuracy.

Mejia withstood the uppercuts and fought on but was not accurate enough as one judge saw it a draw 95-95, but two others scored for Rodriguez 96-93 and 96-94.

In a light heavyweight clash Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gvozdyk (19-1, 15 KOs) needed time to figure out Latvia’s Ricards Bolotniks (19-7-1, 8 KOs) before lowering the boom with a volley of blows ending in knockout at 1:53 of the seventh round.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE