John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder has hit the lotto with him being selected by Canelo Alvarez as his opponent to make life-changing money on May 6 in their ‘The King is Coming Home’ card on DAZN PPV at the 50,000-seat Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) feels he’s earned his shot against the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) through all the hard work he’s put in during his 13-year professional career in England.
John is getting the Canelo fight for the great year he had in 2022, beating Danny Jacobs and Zach Parker to win the WBO interim super middleweight title and the mandatory spot.
If Ryder can defeat Canelo, he’ll put himself in position for another big payday in the rematch if the Mexican star doesn’t retire afterward.
“I’ve earned this shot, and I deserve to be here, and all this hard work and sacrifices have paid off,” said John Ryder to Matchroom Boxing about his getting a title shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on May 6.
“He’s still very dangerous and still an excellent tactician. He gets things spot on,” said Ryder about Canelo. “He had a great year when he became undisputed [in 2021]. He fought three times that year, and he really changed the game.
“He’s had so much success. You can only respect him. There’s no bad blood for me. I respect him as a fighter. It’s not going to be hard for me to study his fights because I’ve watched most of them already. Youtube again, watch more Canelo fights and pay more attention to what he does good and the mistakes he makes.
“We can get the home that we wanted, new schools for the kids, a better life for them, and a better life for me and the missus,” said Ryder when asked what the money he’ll make fighting Canelo will mean for him.
“That’s always been the angle and always been the goal. Hopefully, we’re going to get it sorted. I feel like I really deserve to be here. I’ve paid the dues in this sport, and I’ve earned this shot three times over already. So yeah, I feel like I really deserve to be here.
“I feel like we’re both getting older,” said Ryder on what he deserves to fight Canelo. “Alvarez is coming off his worst year as a pro. He lost to Bivol and not the vintage performance against Golovkin in the third fight that everyone was expecting.
“I think last year was my best year. I beat Danny Jacobs, and I got myself in line for the WBO world title by beating Zach Parker. I know he had an injury and was coming back from it.
