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“It’s a great opportunity that hasn’t been given,” John Ryder said at Thursday’s press conference to kick off the promotion of his May fight with the only Canelo Alvarez. “I’ve worked hard on it for years. Like you said, I’ve been through the ups, downs, bottom of the barrel, really. I would like to take some time to thank you, Saul and Eddie, for making this fight possible. Charlie, for working tirelessly back and forth with you to get the deal done. And three, it’s fair what (was) said about my coach Tony Sims, he can’t be here because of the schedule.
Ryder may be Canelo’s obligatory, but the Englishman isn’t one of the biggest names in the sport, though he certainly will be if he beats the future Hall of Famer in Canelo’s native Mexico this spring. “I’m not here for a holiday,” she said, “and I wouldn’t take the team with me, I wouldn’t have the team around me that I have if I didn’t believe I could win. I go, leaving no stone unturned, putting everything into this field and truly believing that I can emerge victorious on May 6th.
While there has been some unwarranted criticism that Ryder is Canelo’s latest opponent, promoter Eddie Hearn stressed during the press conference that he describes Ryder as “someone we’ve worked with for over a decade. He paid his dues in sports. He’s had his ups and downs and now he’s great. Wins over Danny Jacobs and Zach Parker have made him the mandatory challenger, the interim world champion and someone who will come to Guadalajara with every intention of winning. With a big heart, with a lot of strength and the chance to make history for Great Britain and become the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world.”
“But facing him,” Hearn added, “is boxing’s biggest sport star, Saul Canelo Alvarez.”
