Canelo Alvarez rival concedes that fighting the Mexican was very tough on his body.
The pound-for-pound superstar is a truly tremendous operator, blessed with a fantastic boxing IQ and phenomenal power.
Canelo has ruthlessly knocked out Amir Khan, stopped Sergey Kovalev, and rendered James Kirkland unconscious.
However, despite landing massive blows on ‘The Gorilla’, he couldn’t get his rival out of there.
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Photo by Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty ImagesJohn Ryder says he wasn’t the same after fighting Canelo Alvarez
On May 6, 2023, John Ryder produced an almighty effort against Canelo Alvarez, en route to losing via unanimous decision.
But the fight came at a cost, as the warrior believes it took a lot out of him.
In an interview with Boxing Scene, he said: “I think physically, at the time, I felt like I was going to be so much better for the experience. I think the experience at 25 would have been fantastic for me; the experience at 35 was not so good.
“It was tough on the body. We age for a reason, don’t we? And I’ve got a lot of miles on the clock, and I think that that last hurrah with Canelo was just probably one step too far. A lot of people say to me, ‘Why did you get up after the fifth [when he was knocked down]?’ and it was something in me, the will to win.
“You can forever be called a quitter in this sport, and it forever tarnishes your reputation. Moving forward, as a trainer, there was never that bit of quit in me, but there’s also that [knowledge] to save and just to fight another day, which might have been a sensible thing to do.
“But I stayed in there, took some stick, took some punishment and went on to fight another day – but was well past my best.”
Canelo Alvarez scored controversial TKO against fighter discovered by Sylvester Stallone
While Ryder lasted the distance against Canelo, most haven’t.
However, one talented competitor was left furious that he didn’t have his chance to continue fighting against the superstar.
In a shocking moment, Canelo bagged a divisive stoppage against a boxer discovered by Sylvester Stallone.