Canelo Alvarez is deep in training camp for his September fight against Terence Crawford, and with many believing Crawford could win despite the weight difference, Canelo may need all the advice he can get.
Canelo is now just weeks away from his pound-for-pound mega-fight against Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford and the build-up to this fight has been an interesting one.
With many fights that involve a fighter moving up a weight division or two, the smaller man is almost always ruled out immediately by the majority, but in this case, Crawford has been picked to beat Canelo by many, despite his size.
Crawford may well have caught Canelo at the best time possible to spring an upset, as the Mexican star has not knocked out an opponent since his 2021 win over Caleb Plant.
With the fight looming, one of Canelo’s former foes has had his say on how the face of boxing can continue his glorious reign with a win over the Omaha native.
Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty ImagesJohn Ryder issues advice to Canelo before Terence Crawford fight
In 2023, John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder packed his bags, left his home in London, and flew to Mexico to face Canelo in his homecoming fight in the Akron stadium.
Ryder should have faced Canelo, who named his Mount Rushmore of boxing, earlier, as in 2019, he was arguably robbed against Callum Smith, who secured the fight for himself immediately after his controversial victory.
But, four years later, Ryder finally got his shot after wins over Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker.
It wasn’t his night, however, and he was dropped and beaten comprehensively by the better man. Ryder retired one fight later after losing to Jaime Munguia.
Ahead of Canelo’s fight with Crawford, Ryder said, “I think you’re gonna see Canelo sitting tight on Crawford, not giving him space, block him side to side and just very much work up close. Don’t give Crawford the space to move, don’t give him the leverage to throw his long shots. Listen, Crawford can be dangerous with the leverage and the movement and the switching stances.”
“I think Canelo’s gotta sit tight on him, sit on his chest, good head movement, good slipping, good rolling, good catch-counters, and break him down.”
The undercard for Crawford vs Canelo will see Jarrell Miller fight Michael Hunter.
John Ryder’s last win ended in bizarre fashion as he set up Canelo war
After his controversial and close win over ‘The Miracle Man’ Daniel Jacobs, Ryder faced 22-0 Zach Parker for the WBO Interim super-middleweight world title.
The fight seemed close to begin with, but at the end of round four, just as the fight was beginning to warm up, it was called off.
Initially, there was confusion in the crowd, and in Ryder’s corner, as to what had happened, as there was no fight-ending shot thrown by either man.
It was soon revealed that Parker had broken his right hand during one of the previous rounds, and decided not to fight on. He was heavily criticized for quitting, though has since picked up a few more wins and set himself up for a big fight against Joshua Buatsi.
Parker vs Buatsi will headline an all-light-heavyweight card in Manchester on November 1st.