Canelo Álvarez made a victorious return to Mexican soil after a 12-year absence on Saturday night, winning a convincing decision over a bloodied but unbowed John Ryder to successfully defend his undisputed championship at 168 pounds in front of a rollicking hometown crowd.
The 32-year-old four-division champion busted Ryder’s nose in the third round, scored a heavy knockdown in the fifth and poured on the punishment in the later stages as the gulf in skill and class between the super‑middleweights became wincingly evident. The durable Londoner refused to quit and surprisingly conjured his best moments of the night in the final stretch but was left to settle for an ennobling defeat after finishing the bout on his feet before more than 50,000 raucous spectators at the Estadio Akron.
One of the ringside judges was harsh to score it a 120-107 shutout while the other two handed down cards of 118‑109. (The Guardian had it 117‑110.)
Ryder, the 34-year-old Islington southpaw nicknamed the Gorilla, went off as a 9-1 underdog but fought gamely from start to finish and showed his best against the fatigued champion when the outcome was far beyond reach, an almost unthinkable conclusion during the fifth when he was badly hurt and nearly counted out.
It was Álvarez’s 35th professional fight in Mexico but the first since 26 November 2011, when he stopped Kermit Cintrón inside five rounds in the third defense of his WBO junior middleweight title. So much has happened since then, with Álvarez adding titles at 160lb, 168lb and 175lb, lending to a deafening atmosphere on Saturday inside the sprawling home ground of the Liga MX side CD Guadalajara, which is expected to host matches at the 2026 World Cup.
“It’s a historic moment for me,” Álvarez said afterward in his much-improved English. “I’m blessed to be here with my people who have supported me from the beginning. I’m glad to be here and thankful [to be here] with my people.”
Álvarez landed consistently with thudding left hands to the body from the opening bell, while Ryder’s measured activity from range kept the champion from getting off combinations over the first two rounds. But the Briton’s confident start came to an abrupt halt early in the third when a stiff right hand from Álvarez detonated squarely on his nose, which immediately started leaking blood that covered both fighters during periods of in‑fighting. An emboldened Álvarez, unconcerned by Ryder’s power, began stepping into the pocket, delivering crunching shots to the ribs while looking for Ryder to drop his glove long enough to close the show with a right hand upstairs.
The one-way traffic continued into the fifth, when Álvarez landed a devastating one‑two combination that dumped his foe to the canvas along the ropes and ignited the capacity crowd. Ryder bravely made it to his feet at nine before improbably reaching the bell through sheer force of will.
Álvarez continued to mete out punishment over the next three rounds, wobbling Ryder on multiple occasions with withering blows to the head and midsection. But the challenger weathered the onslaught, even as he stood in his corner between rounds in a desperate bid to reanimate his rubbery legs.
Ryder nearly went down again in the ninth under a series of concussive right hands thrown with the worst of intentions, but somehow remained upright. The referee took a step forward near the end of the frame but the close inspection seemed only to motivate Ryder, who returned fire just enough to buy himself more time. To what end, given the lopsided tilt of the scorecards, was unclear.
The knockout that had seemed a fait accompli only a couple rounds earlier never did come to pass. An increasingly frustrated Álvarez appeared to tire over the final three sessions, reduced to throwing individual right hands while pressing for the show-stopper as the busier Ryder fired combinations on resurgent legs. By that point the outcome was beyond any doubt, but the Briton’s show of tenacity, courage and durability under extreme duress will surely result in profitable opportunities moving forward.
“He’s probably past his best, he could not get me out there, he wanted to stop me and could not do it,” Ryder said at a press conference. “It could have been a little different without the problem to my nose. It took me a few rounds to get adjusted.”
Álvarez credited Ryder for being a “very strong fighter”, adding that his own status as a four-belt world champion and boxing’s biggest star tends to bring that out in his opponents.
“He’s a very strong fighter, man,” said Álvarez, who connected on 179 of 459 punches (39%) compared with 80 of 457 for Ryder (17.5%), according to Compubox’s punch statistics. “When they’re going for everything [all four championship belts], they turn it on. They become more difficult than usual. But I know that. I’m in this position a long time and I know. I respect my opponents because I know they’re coming for everything.”
Álvarez entered Saturday’s fight coming off a 2022 that underwhelmed by his stratospheric standards. A climb up in weight to fight the light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol ended with his first defeat in nine years before he settled for a by-the-numbers decision win in a trilogy-capping date with a faded Gennady Golovkin. Then came a long-deferred surgery on his left hand, which he said on Saturday took a few rounds to feel back to normal.
“[The left hand] felt really good,” Álvarez said. “Not at the beginning. I needed a couple rounds, three rounds, to start punching to know I was good with the hand. But now I know.”
No sooner was Álvarez crowned with gilded winner’s laurels than he called out Bivol, a rematch that both fighters want but whose negotiations may prove tricky. Álvarez wants the rematch to take place at light heavyweight, where he would be a significant underdog but would also retain his WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF super middleweight titles if he falls short once again. Bivol has insisted the fight take place at 168lb, a weight where Canelo is far more comfortable but which gives him the opportunity to take Álvarez’s super middleweight title belts.
“Same rules, same terms, same everything,” Álvarez said. “Everybody knows we want the rematch with Bivol, [but] if the fight with Bivol doesn’t happen then we’ll see. I’m able to fight everybody.”
