John Ryder: who is Canelo Alvarez’s next boxing opponent? Career highlights, height, weight and date of fight

In two months time, the Mexican undisputed Super Middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will be defending his title and will come up against British boxer John Ryder. The fight is due to take place at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, and this represents the first time in nearly 12 years that Alvarez has fought in his home country.

Alvarez, who has 58 wins in his professional career, will defend his undisputed crown for the second time after beating his bitter rival Gennadiy Golovkin in their trilogy battle last September, having taken the IBF crown from Caleb Plant in Sin City with an 11th round stoppage.

The 32-year-old four-weight World Champion will be fighting for the 63rd time in his career and the 35th time in Mexico when he enters the ring on Cinco de Mayo weekend and it promises to be a spectacular occasion as the state of Jalisco marks 200 years of independence.

Alvarez will be taking on WBO mandatory challenger Ryder who will travel from London for the fight. Here is all you need to know about the Mexican’s upcoming English opponent...

Who is John Ryder?

This is set to be Ryder’s biggest fight of his 12-year career. Known as ‘The Gorilla’, Ryder landed this fight after Zach Parker retired on his stool after four rounds of their clash in London last November. That win followed a career-best victory, earlier in 2022, when Ryder took on former Middleweight ruler and Canelo’s old foe Daniel Jacobs.

Born in Islington, Ryder fought for Angel Amateur Boxing Club as an amateur and won 30 of 35 fights. Since turning professional, the 34-year-old fighter has fought in Middleweight and Super-Middleweight categories. He has won British and Commonwealth middleweight titles, WBA international middleweight belts, as well as the WBA interim super-middleweight title.

He has fought 37 fights in total, winning 32 of them and 18 of those were won by knock-out. His last loss came in 2019 against Callum Smith. Smith won the bout by unanimous decision and took home the WBA (Super) and The Ring super middleweight titles. He has fought five times since that loss, winning one by technical knock-out, one by split decision, another by unanimous decision and the most recent was when Parker retired.

Ryder fights a Southpaw stance, has a reach of 72 inches and stands at 5ft9in tall (175cm).

What’s been said?

Speaking at a recent press conference, Alvarez said: “I feel really happy to be coming back in May because following my surgery, I was unsure of when I’d be coming back. Returning to the ring and coming back to fight in Jalisco, where I’m from, makes me especially happy. And in John Ryder, I’m facing a very competitive fighter.”

Ryder added: “There’s no denying that Canelo is one of the greats and I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s achieved in the sport but I fully believe this is my time fulfill my dream of becoming a World champion. “I’m not going over there for a holiday. For me this is purely business and my full focus is on going into his backyard in Guadalajara on May 6 and bringing those belts back with me to the UK.”

When is the fight?

The fight will take place on Saturday 6 May at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara and it will be available to watch on DAZN and DAZN PPV.