In a highly anticipated match-up, undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) faced his WBO mandatory, John “The Gorilla” Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) at Estadio Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Despite being marked up around the face, Alvarez managed to pull off a hard-fought twelve-round unanimous decision victory in a tougher-than-expected battle. Alvarez appeared to be showing his age, particularly as he faded in the second half of the fight, much like his bouts against Gennadiy Golovkin and Dmitry Bivol last year. Ryder was knocked down in the fifth round and dominated for the first nine rounds. However, Canelo seemed to gas out in the championship rounds, allowing a motivated Ryder to outwork and out-punch him in rounds 10, 11, and 12. The scoring was controversial as the judges seemingly overlooked Ryder's strong performance.
Official fight highlights:
In the undercard, Julio Cesar Martinez (20-2, 14 KOs) retained his WBC flyweight title with an eleventh-round TKO win over fringe contender Ronal Batista (15-3, 9 KOs). Martinez hurt Batista in the eleventh round and unleashed a barrage of punches until the referee intervened. Martinez displayed his classic form that fans have come to love. In the seventh round, he knocked Batista down, which was initially ruled a slip but later corrected to a knockdown.
Local fighter Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (27-3-1, 17 KOs) from Guadalajara defeated light welterweight contender Steve Spark (16-3, 14 KOs) in a closely contested 10-round split decision. The scores were 96-93, 95-94 for Valenzuela and 95-94 for Spark. Boxing News 24 had it 8-2 for Spark. Valenzuela had his best rounds in the second and sixth, knocking Spark down in round six with a body shot. However, Spark appeared to dominate the majority of the rounds with his power shots, leading to claims that the decision was a robbery.
In another undercard bout, former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (19-1, 15 KOs) secured his second comeback win with a sixth-round knockout over Ricards Bolotniks (19-7-1, 8 KOs). Gvozdyk fought at a leisurely pace for the first five rounds but unleashed a flurry of heavy shots in the sixth round, sending Bolotniks to the canvas. Despite bleeding profusely from his left eye, Bolotniks managed to get back on his feet before referee Celestino Ruiz stepped in to stop the fight at the 1:53 mark. Gvozdyk will need to improve his defense if he wants to compete with the likes of Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol. Interestingly, the Estadio Akron stadium appeared mostly empty, raising questions about whether Mexican boxing fans have lost interest in Canelo Alvarez or were simply not intrigued by his matchup against John Ryder.
Official full card highlights:
Image Credit: Matchroom Boxing