Watch: Canelo Alvarez and John Ryder face off for the first time in Mexico after official fight announcement
Canelo Alvarez and John Ryder faced off in Mexico in their first pre-fight press conference ahead of their undisputed super middleweight championship bout on May 6.
The clash will take place at the Akron Stadium in Jalisco, Mexico, which has a capacity of 50,000. All seats are expected to be filled as Alvarez returns to home soil for the first time in over 11 years on Cinco de Mayo.
The Mexican boxing phenom most recently beat Gennadiy Golovkin in September via unanimous decision. Thereafter, Alvarez had surgery on his left wrist in October. He spoke about the fight and his return to the ring in an interview with ESPN:
“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."
John Ryder (32-5) currently holds the WBO interim super middleweight title and will look to add Alvarez’s WBC, WBA, IBO, IBF and the Ring Magazine titles to his name. Ryder spoke about his mindset as he prepares for the biggest fight of his career so far:
"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 [to] fulfil my dream of becoming a world champion."
Check out the face off below:
Benavidez Sr. claims Canelo Alvarez is "done as a fighter"
Jose Benavidez Sr., the father of current WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez, recently had some choice words for Canelo Alvarez’s boxing career at present. He told Izquierdazo:
“I consider [Canelo Alvarez], with all due respect, done as a fighter. He is worn out. First, we saw him with a knee injury, and now he injured his hand. Now, we can see that Canelo is starting to drink. He is beginning to enjoy life. But he has all the right to do that because he has been a very disciplined fighter. He has many businesses now and is not focused 100% on boxing."
David Benavidez will take on Caleb Plant on March 25 in the headliner of a Showtime pay-per-view. The winner of that fight is expected to be Canelo Alvarez's mandatory challenger at super middleweight.