By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Canelo Alvarez is back.
After almost nine months of boxing hiatus since settling his trilogy with main rival Gennady Golovkin last year, the tagged pound-for-pound king of the sport pulled off a convincing comeback after scoring a unanimous decision victory over John Ryder last May 7, 2023, held at the Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico.
With the win, Alvarez kept his super-middleweight undisputed status and is still the holder of the WBA, WBC, WBO, and the IBF championship belts.
Despite not achieving his knockout win promise in front of his hometown fans in Mexico, Alvarez let everybody know that he still got the power in the 168-lbs. division.
It was all Alvarez in the fight as the power puncher immediately bloodied Ryder’s face when he landed his signature right hooks and straights at will.
The biggest highlight of the fight came in the fifth round when Alvarez scored the first knockdown of the fight.
As Ryder was trying to protect himself while backpedaling, Alvarez perfectly timed a 1-2 left-right combination that put him down on the canvass.
Alvarez then looked to finish the fight and unleashed a series of power hooks but the tough and resilient Ryder shook off the damage he took and surprised the Mexican crowd when he stood square and fought back.
Four rounds after the first knockdown, Alvarez was again near dropping the British star but the bell unfortunately rang when Ryder hobbled.
Ryder desperately tried to comeback in the scorecards and went aggressive in the last four rounds but Alvarez’s pin-point accuracy with his right hand doomed the British slugger for the rest of the fight.
Both fighters went at it in the 12th and final round as Ryder was able to hit Alvarez with several short-distanced uppercuts.
However, Alvarez retaliated at the last minute and displayed another hitting clinic that caused redness in Ryder’s face again.
“It’s a historic moment for me. I’m blessed to be here with my people, like I say, who support me from the beginning. I’m glad to be here and I’m very thankful for my people,” Alvarez said after the win.
