‘The Fire Is Gone’- Canelo Defeats Ryder, But Now Is The Time To Retire
Canelo Alvarez looked like a shadow of himself as the former Pound for Pound king defeated John Ryder in Mexico.
Fighting on home turf for the first time in a decade, Canelo was looking in control through five rounds. Bloodying Ryder and dropping the Briton made the bout seem routine at first.
However, Ryder rallied to prove he was a warrior. Canelo then labored for the remaining seven rounds drifting in and out of his former greatness.
Canelo should retire
The consensus is the Mexican superstar should step away from the sport, having amassed millions and losing the fire at 32.
Despite the questions about walking away, Canelo is adamant he still wants a rematch with Dmitry Bivol. On that form, though, it’s hard to see how he can win against the Russian light-heavyweight.
“This was historic,” said Canelo in the aftermath. “I’m happy with the fight. John is a powerful fighter.”
He added: “We want [Dmitry] Bivol, same rules, and terms [to fight at 175]!”
Elaborating to ESPN, Canelo stated:
“I want the same terms. The same everything as the last fight. The goal is to have a rematch with Bivol on the same terms.”
Discussing the first fight, where Bivol’s jab nullified everything Canelo attempted to do, the undisputed ruler pointed out: “I think I’m better than him. That’s it.
“If you see the first five rounds, six rounds, I dominate the fight. But then I get tired because I don’t train at one hundred percent.”
Engaging in a tear-up with John Ryder, which should have been routine, Canelo lacks the form to beat Bivol. According to the statistics from CompuBox, there was a dominance that Canelo ultimately couldn’t translate to a stoppage.
CompuBox
With the exception of power punches thrown, Canelo bested Ryder in every statistical category tracked by CompuBox.
Canelo landed 46% of his power punches and 39% of his total punches while landing twice as many punches as Ryder.
Ryder fought gamely but spent most of the fight bleeding from his nose and mouth. He got off the canvas in the fifth round.
His toughness did not translate into success. He could only land eighteen percent of his total punches and six percent of his jabs.
Add to that twenty-seven percent of his power punches. Ryder only reached ten punches and landed in one round. Meanwhile, Canelo landed at least ten punches in eleven of twelve rounds.
If Bivol is now the target, Canelo could be facing the certainty of a third loss when he could walk away and secure his legacy without another blemish.
