A gallant and gutsy performance from John Ryder was not enough to beat Mexican fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in front of more than 50,000 people in Guadalajara on Saturday.
A bruised and bloodied Ryder lost by unanimous decision in a heroic effort against one of the world’s best fighters in front of a raucous crowd at the Estadio Akron, where Canelo retained the undisputed super-middleweight titles.
The judges scored the fight 120-107 on one card and 118-109 on the other two to improve Canelo’s record to 59-2-2 in his first fight in Mexico since 2011.
Both fighters used the first two rounds to feel each other before a Canelo jab caused blood to pour from Ryder’s nose.
Canelo then knocked down Ryder with a clean one-two in the fifth round and it looked ominous for the 34-year-old from Islington.
But he got back up and fought through the 12 rounds, coping with vicious punches throughout the fight while spitting blood from his mouth and holding on until the last bell.
Ryder had previously lost five career fights to Billy Joe Saunders, Nick Blackwell, Jack Arnfield, Rocky Fielding, and the most recent being Callum Smith in 2019 by unanimous decision.