Boxing | Saul “Canelo” Alvarez aims for triumphant homecoming

(Guadalajara) Canelo is back home! Undisputed super middleweight king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez puts his WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF crowns on the line against Britain’s John Ryder on Saturday in Guadalajara, for his first fight at home in Mexico since 2011.

Some 55,000 spectators are expected for this outdoor fight scheduled for the national holiday weekend.

Canelo, 32, with an eloquent record of 58 wins (39 before the limit), two draws and two defeats, is a strong favorite to keep his unified belts against the official WBO challenger, John Ryder, 32 wins (18 before the limit ) and 5 losses.

“I’ve wanted to fight in Guadalajara for a long time,” where as a child he sold ice cream in a van alongside his father, Alvarez said during a recent training camp in San Diego, USA.

“Now is the perfect time,” he assured.

Considered for several years as the best active boxer in all categories, Canelo intends to revive and erase a complicated year 2022.

The first boxer to unify the super middleweight titles in November 2021, he ventured into light heavyweight in May 2022, three years after a first victorious foray where he won the WBO belt.

But he came up against Las Vegas with the valor of Russian Dmitri Bivol, who, by unanimous decision of the judges, retained his WBA title and thus inflicted the second defeat of his career, nine years after his defeat against the American Floyd Mayweather.

He had restored his image by winning the third fight against his 40-year-old Kazakh rival, Gennady Golovkin, in September, after a controversial draw and a sluggish victory.

But not enough to silence critics of a possible end to his reign, especially since he has since undergone surgery on his left hand to treat a long-standing ligament problem.

“I can’t wait to prove everyone wrong,” said Canelo, who said he was “very excited” for the upcoming fight.

At the end of November, he also caused a controversy in the middle of the FIFA World Cup by urging Leo Messi “not to cross his path” after a video in which Rosario’s child had appeared to kick a Mexico jersey that had fallen on the ground. ground during the celebration of the victory of the Albiceleste on the Tri (2-0). Before apologizing flatly.

Alvarez, however, acknowledges that his opponent “has everything to gain, nothing to lose”. “He’s still here, fought for this opportunity (to be an official challenger), and now he has it. It’s going to be a danger for me, but I feel good,” he said.

“The pressure is on him (Canelo),” assures Ryder. The 34-year-old Londoner acknowledges that he has had “a lot of ups and downs” in his career “and takes this fight against the Mexican superstar as one last chance for redemption”.

Still, three of Ryder’s five career losses have come against boxers whom Alvarez outrageously outplayed.