Alvarez beats Ryder to retain super middleweight crown

Canelo Alvarez wins the tremendous middleweight world title in his first struggle in his native Mexico in 12 years.

Canelo Alvarez has retained his undisputed tremendous middleweight world title, beating John Ryder earlier than greater than 50,000 followers in his first struggle in Mexico since 2011.

Alvarez cruised to the victory by scores of 120-107 on one card and 118-109 on the opposite two to enhance to 59-2-2.

“I hit him an excessive amount of within the head and he didn’t go down,” Alvarez mentioned after the struggle on Saturday evening on the open-air Akron Stadium in his hometown of Guadalajara.

Alvarez and Ryder began a slow-paced struggle within the first two rounds, however Alvarez linked with a straight proper and Ryder began bleeding from the nostril after the third spherical.

The Mexican stored urgent the motion within the fourth spherical, touchdown physique pictures, after which despatched Ryder to the mat with a proper hook to the chin.

Ryder made Alvarez uncomfortable within the fifth and landed just a few pictures on the face of the Mexican, however Alvarez landed one other proper within the ninth. Ryder stumbled, however rallied and answered with a shot that shook the Mexican.

Alvarez admitted he was not totally assured in his left hand from the opening bell.

“I wanted a few rounds to begin punching and realizing I’m good with the hand,” he mentioned. “Now I do know.”

Ryder, with a bloodied face, closed the struggle properly within the final two rounds, however was not sufficient to get the upset.

“He’s in all probability previous his greatest, he couldn’t get me on the market, he wished to cease me and couldn’t do it,” Ryder instructed media after the bout.

“It may have been a little bit completely different with out the issue to my nostril, it took me just a few rounds to get adjusted.”

It was Alvarez’s first struggle since he had surgical procedure on his left wrist final March. Earlier than the struggle, he mentioned the harm slowed him down in his earlier 4 fights, together with his loss to mild heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol a yr in the past.

After getting a hard-fought victory over Ryder, Alvarez has his eyes set on a rematch in opposition to the Russian in September.

“That’s what we’re aiming for, however we are going to see,” he mentioned.