05 May 2023 , 18:16
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There have been some epic victories by British fighters on foreign soil. John Ryder has a chance to join or even eclipse the best of them were he to topple Saul Canelo Alvarez in Guadalajara.
John H Stracey stunned the world when he beat Jose Napoles for the WBC welterweight title in Mexico City 48 years ago. A decade later Lloyd Honeyghan inflicted a shock first defeat on unified welterweight king Donald Curry in Atlantic City.
Tyson Fury deserves a big mention too for his victory over Vladimir Klitschko in Germany eight years ago to claim three of the four heavyweight belts. Like all of them Ryder is a huge underdog. And not without reason.
Canelo is an all-time great, up there with Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez and Joe Frazier in his ability to trade up close and dangerous. And he is fighting on home soil for the first time in 12 years on a big public holiday, which means he wants to put on a show.
The big question is, has he peaked? Does he have the same enthusiasm? He’s 32 having been a pro 17 years.
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He was soundly beaten by Dimitry Bivol a year ago. Maybe he took on too much against a genuine light heavyweight. He dropped down to super middle to dominate a fading Gennady Golovkin, which makes it difficult to assess any decline.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and John Ryder during their face-off (Getty Images)Will Ryder beat Canelo? Share your predictions in the comments below
Ryder gave Callum Smith a good fight, and showed how much he has improved with victory over Daniel Jacobs. He has a good chin and loads of bottle.
He won’t be overawed. But to have a sniff of winning he will need not only to stay with Canelo but outbox him.
Ryder is an attacking southpaw who likes to throw a lot of shots. Southpaws have given him trouble in the past, Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout in particular.
Both fought on the outside, which is not Ryder’s game. Ryder likes to come forward, which is right in Canelo’s wheelhouse.
It is perhaps enough that Ryder is sharing the ring with a legend of the game, something he could not have imagined when Nick Blackwell stopped him eight years ago. That was at middleweight, and the only time he has been stopped in 37 fights.
Avoiding the same fate against Canelo is arguably the best he can hope for. Ryder will be brave and fight back stoically for four to five rounds before Canelo starts to beat him up and grind him down, ending it early in the championship rounds.
- Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym