Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez defends undisputed super-middleweight crown against John Ryder
Home favourite Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez beat Britain's John Ryder in front of 50,000 raucous Mexican fans on a historic night in Guadalajara.
The Mexican champion defended his undisputed super-middleweight crown on points despite a spirited display by Ryder at Estadio Akron.
Alvarez, 32, dominated the fight and dropped Ryder in round five, but the Londoner fought back well.
Two judges scored the bout 118-109 and the other 120-107 to Alvarez.
Home favourite Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez beat Britain's John Ryder in front of 50,000 raucous Mexican fans on a historic night in Guadalajara.
The Mexican champion defended his undisputed super-middleweight crown on points despite a spirited display by Ryder at Estadio Akron.
Alvarez, 32, dominated the fight and dropped Ryder in round five, but the Londoner fought back well.
Two judges scored the bout 118-109 and the other 120-107 to Alvarez.
In a fight billed as the 'King is coming home', Alvarez extended his reign as the ruler of super-middleweight division.
After eight months out of the ring following surgery on his left hand, there were no signs of any effects of Alvarez's injury as he landed two thudding left hooks to Ryder's body in the opening round.
Ryder's task got all the more harder after Alvarez busted the challenger's nose two rounds later, leaving him with a bloodied face which would hinder him for the remainder of the contest.
He is a bullish boxer who vowed to take the fight to Alvarez, but he was forced on the back foot with Alvarez dictating the pace and stalking Ryder around the ring early on.
The crowd erupted in round five as Alvarez floored Ryder with a sensational left-right combination. Ryder staggered backwards before falling to the canvas. He got up at the count of eight but, with his legs still wobbled, did well to survive the round.
Ryder earned a lucrative, life-changing shot at Alvarez by becoming WBO mandatory and winning the interim title. But he was at times fighting on instinct. Whatever Ryder threw, Alvarez would hardly flinch.
Ryder was dropped in the eighth but it was declared a slip, before a sensational round nine.
Another Alvarez combination had the referee poised to step in, but a gutsy Ryder stood and traded with Alvarez, showing incredible heart and bravery.
"John came in to the fight when it looked like the fight was over," Hearn said. "He stayed in the fight. The more John threw the more success he was having. What a gutsy performance."
Ryder, needing a stoppage, began to land with more ease in the championship rounds. The result became inevitable, but the way in which Ryder recovered from those early and middle rounds, trading and landing on Alvarez, won the respect of the crowd.
It was an event that will go down in Mexican boxing history, and one which could rival any boxing atmosphere around the world.
Police helicopters circled a stadium lit up by smartphone torches. Quite appropriately, there was a Mexican wave.
Ryder has taken a backseat throughout the 'Alvarez show' during fight week. He insisted the occasion would not overwhelm him, but very little could prepare him for the hostile reception and jeers he received during his ring walk.
Then came the emotive, electric and epic Alvarez entrance. A montage of his life appeared on the big screen, fireworks shot up into the Guadalajara night sky and a mariachi band of about 50 members played the champion into the ring.
All the while, Ryder continued to shadow box and wait patiently.
Alvarez, fighting in his home country for the first time since 2011, is arguably the biggest pay-per-view star in boxing, but in Mexico he is a true icon whose level of fame in Mexico is unmatched.
What's next for Alvarez?
After a defeat by Dmitry Bivol at light-heavyweight and by a below-par performance in a win over Gennady Golovkin in 2022, there were some questions over whether Alvarez's best days were behind him.
There was huge expectation on Alvarez to deliver against Ryder. He may not have got the knockout, but he won convincingly against a game opponent on a night when expectation was sky high.
Boxing fans are calling for a mouth-watering clash against former world champion David Benavidez. The undefeated American has 23 knockout wins in 27 fights.
Alvarez said he wants to avenge his defeat against Bivol and become a two-time light-heavyweight champion.
"Same rules, same terms, same everything," Alvarez said, dismissing the idea of Bivol moving down in weight.
There are not many contests where Alvarez would go in as the underdog, but the classy Bivol was a clear winner in the first fight.
Ryder was on the cusp of legendary status, but became the eighth Briton beaten by Alvarez.
A fighter who has shown incredible grit and determination in a career full of ups and down, Ryder had an opportunity to shock the world and be the first male English boxer to become undisputed champion in the four-belt era
Victory over Alvarez would have also been arguably the greatest by a British boxer overseas, but it was always going to a tall order.
The manner of the defeat, however, has earned Ryder many plaudits. In the post-fight news conference both he and Hearn suggested there could be more big fights, domestically and in the United States.
But whoever Ryder faces next, he leaves Guadalajara knowing he played his part in a memorable and historic night.
Martinez defends WBC flyweight title
World Boxing Council Flyweight Champion Julio César “Rey” Martínez, successfully defended his crown by technically knocking out Panamanian Ronal Batista in round 11, this Saturday at the Akron Stadium, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Martínez sent Batista to the canvas in the seventh round, and was submitting him with everything in the 11th, when referee Celestino Ruiz decided to suspend the actions since Batista was being hit, without any kind of response. The end of the fight came at the minute of round 11.
Martínez was the clear favorite to beat Batista, but the Panamanian endured almost the entire fight, showing great courage and great physical condition.
With this result, “Rey” Martínez improved his record to 20-2, with 14 knockouts, while Batista fell to 15-3, with 9 knockouts.
Gvozdyk wins in Mexico
The former WBC light heavyweight world champion, Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk, continues his campaign to return to the forefront of world boxing.
This Saturday he knocked out Ricards Bolotniks, from Latvia, in the sixth round, in the preliminary bouts of the “Canelo vs Ryder” card that took place at the Estadía Akron, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Gvozdyk started the fight a little slow, but little by little he got into the rhythm, landing his power shots with certainty, until in the sixth round he landed a series of combinations, especially right to the face, that completely depleted Bolotniks, who suffered a large cut to his left eyebrow.
Bolotniks went to the canvas in that sixth round, and was unable to recover. Referee Celestino Ruiz rightly called off the fight, as the Latvian fighter looked completely defeated.
The end of the fight occurred at 1:53 minutes of the sixth round.
With this result, Gvozdyk achieved his second victory in a row since he was defeated by Artur Beterbiev in October 2019, to leave his record at 19-1, with 15 knockouts. Instead, Bolotniks was 19-7-1, 8 knockouts.
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