The second last man to share a prize ring with undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39) says the Mexican superstar will remain champion for as long as he wants.
Tough Brit John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder 32-6 (18) went the distance against Alvarez in a losing effort in May, going down by scores of 107-120 and 109-118 twice.
With firsthand experience of what it is like to face Alvarez, the 35-year-old southpaw can’t see him being defeated at 168-pounds anytime soon, not even if he faces top contender David ‘El Monstruo’ Benavidez 28-0 (24).
“I think as long as he wants to keep fighting and defending his titles, he’ll keep them,” Ryder said to Boxing Social.
“I think it’ll be a tough fight for Canelo [against Benavidez], but he’s very evasive and very tactical. He knows what he wants to throw when he wants to throw it.
“Benavidez is massive at the weight, huge at the weight. I think he takes something out of himself to make that weight. I don’t think his punch power is potentially there.
“I think the skills of Canelo could really negate Benavidez. I could only see a Canelo win.”
The 26-year-old Benavidez from Phoenix, Arizona looked impressive in his last fight agaisnt former WBO junior middleweight and middleweight champion Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade 32-1 (19) in Las Vegas on the last Saturday of November.
After taking a couple of rounds to get going, Benavidez dropped the 35-year-old southpaw in the fourth and beat him up for two more rounds with his high volume pressure attack before the fight was called off at the end of the sixth.
The win put Benavidez in the mix to face Alvarez on his traditional Cinco de Mayo date in May, but ultimately the 33-year-old Alvarez will be the one who decides who he fights.
As the biggest money spinner in the sport outside of the heavyweight division, Alvarez seems to have the rare luxury of not being forced into mandatory title defences by the WBC, WBA, WBO or IBF.
“I don’t think people are forcing mandatories on him. He’s just fighting, kind of who he wants when he wants,” said Ryder, who will face Jaime Munguia 42-0 (33) in his next fight at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on January 27.
“It’s a great time to be a super middleweight fighter. That’s the way it has been with Canelo having the titles. It’s kind of making all the other fighters fight each other. So I think it’s a good thing for boxing that the best are fighting the best.
“We’re here now, we got the date confirmed, January 27th in Phoenix, Arizona. I can’t wait. It’s a huge fight for me, especially after the Canelo fight. I’m back at the level I’ve been operating at.”