The founder and owner of Golden Boy, one of the most prevalent boxing promotions in the United States of America, has expressed his disappointment at the recent announcement of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez facing British Super Middleweight WBO interim champion, John Ryder. With Alvarez set to fight on Mexican soil on May 6th – during the ‘Cinco de Mayo’ celebration weekend, since not doing so for over a decade, question marks seem to hang around his opponent who had moved into a mandatory position after a early stoppage victory over other British contender, Zach Parker.
Despite John Ryder (32-5, 18 KO’s) having deservedly moved into a position as the WBO’s interim champion, a couple contemporaries within the sport, including Oscar De La Hoya, seem to believe Ryder is a walk-over for Saul Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KO’s).
“In terms of opposition, I’m not sure exactly in which direction he (Canelo Alvarez) wants to go.” De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV. “It seems like he’s regressing inside the ring. He’s regressing in terms of picking opponents, and he’s fighting all these British fighters that does nothing to his legacy.“
Canelo Alvarez has faced a total of three British fighters from 2018 to 2021 in Rocky Fielding (30-3, 18 KO’s), Billy Joe Saunders (30-1, 14 KO’s) and Callum Smith (29-1, 21 KO’s), all of the aforementioned Brits were world champions at 168 lbs which allowed him to earn three world titles as he beat them before eventually facing then-IBF champion Caleb Plant (22-1, 13 KO’s) in an undisputed fight which he won by technical knockout.
Though Ryder is the odd-man out in this collection of fighters due to the fact he is only an interim champion and a challenger, the Brit is currently rated as the best British fighter in the division, and the second-best fighter at Super Middleweight overall – after Alvarez himself, on BoxRec. He is further considered to be the third best Super Middleweight in the world according to The Ring’s Boxing Magazine.
“So… I don’t know whose fault that is.” De La Hoya continued. “I don’t want to mention anyone, but I think Canelo should really analyze, carefully, who he wants to fight next, whether it’s Bivol, whether it’s Munguia, but he has to step up and fight the tough opposition, the tough guys, the guys who are out there and can give him a fight. It’s not the John Ryders of this world.“
Oscar De La Hoya showed much more interest in David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KO’s) – the current WBC Super Middleweight interim champion who is slated to fight former IBF champion Caleb Plant next week – as a prospective opponent for the undisputed Mexican champion.
“Those are the types of fights that really help build your legacy. Fights where people have to guess who’s gonna win, where people really have to think really hard about who is going to win this fight.” De La Hoya remarked lastly.
