Saul "Canelo" Alvarez made a victorious homecoming to Mexico and brutalized John Ryder on route to a unanimous 12-round decision that allowed him to keep the undisputed super middleweight world championship.
Ryder fought valiantly in the closing rounds, but Alvarez triumphed decisively in his first fight in his native Mexico in over 12 years. Ryder's face was already covered in blood by the time Alvarez knocked him down in the fifth round.
Judge Jeremy Hayes gave Alvarez the victory with a score of 120–107, while judges Joe Pasquale and Gerardo Martino gave the winner the victory with scores of 118–109. Alvarez thrilled a sellout audience of around 50,000 at the open-air Akron Stadium in his hometown.
"It's a historic moment for me," Alvarez said. "I'm blessed to be here with my people who supported me from the beginning."
In contrast to Ryder, the obligatory challenger, who dropped to 38-6 with 18 victories inside the distance, Alvarez improved to 59-2-2 with 39 knockouts.
After a hesitant first round, the 32-year-old Alvarez started to loosen up, unleashing a barrage of right punches that, by the third round, had Ryder bleeding from the mouth and nose.
Ryder was defeated in the fifth round by a vicious left-right combination. He survived the count and persevered till the last buzzer, but in the sixth, another massive right from Alvarez had the British fighter's knees buckling.
But Ryder, also known as "The Gorilla," persisted in showing up. He fell again after a right from Alvarez late in the eighth inning, but it was determined to be a slip, and he got back up just before the final horn.
In spite of being shaken once more in the ninth, Ryder appeared to gain momentum. Alvarez was less effective in the tenth and eleventh, but still had more than enough to hold on.
"He's strong," Alvarez said. "I'm not surprised about it."
However, after a mixed 2022, Alvarez, who is widely regarded as the finest boxer pound-for-pound, was happy with the performance.
After moving up to light heavyweight and losing to Dmitry Bivol in May, he struggled to a majority decision victory against Gennady Golovkin in September. Later, he had surgery on a long-standing ligament issue in his left hand.
"I'm happy with the fight," Alvarez said. "I won and I'm happy that people had a great time."
Alvarez said that even before the first bell, his left hand lacked complete confidence.
"I needed a couple of rounds to start punching and knowing I'm good with the hand," he said. "Now I know."
He reiterated in the ring that he intended to return to light heavyweight to face the undefeated Russian, who dealt him his second career loss, and that he now wants a rematch.
