The Fight Site Boxing Preview: May 6th, 2023

Photo by Alfredo Moya/Jam Media/Getty Images

This weekend sees Canelo Álvarez returning to action for the first time since his loss to Dmitry Bivol in May of last year. He faces WBO interim super middleweight champion John Ryder of Islington in Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, with the Mexican’s undisputed super middleweight championship on the line. On the undercard, Alvarez’s countryman and stablemate Julio Cesar Martinez looks to add a fifth defence of his WBC flyweight strap against Panamanian Ronal Batista, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk takes on Latvian Ricards Bolotniks at super middleweight. Let’s take a look. 

Canelo vs Ryder 

This one should pretty much be a foregone conclusion in Álvarez’s favor. Following a shockingly one-sided defeat, it seems obvious from a promotional perspective that the biggest name in boxing today would get a tune-up fight or two before taking on serious competition again. Enter John Ryder: a short and not outstandingly athletic super middleweight with a record that’s not particularly threatening to one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world right now, the Englishman won the WBO interim belt last November against the similarly understated Zach Parker. Outside of a Tyson-Douglas scenario in which Álvarez puts on a tactically terrible performance and Ryder a historically great one, there would seem to be no reliable win condition present for the man from Islington. We know what Canelo is wont to do at this stage of his career: take his time, let Ryder gas himself out punching his guard while firing occasional attritional shots, and force an opening late in the fight to throw incredibly powerful combinations. If John Ryder wants to stand a chance at winning, he’ll have to be in the best shape of his career to not only overwhelm Álvarez, but also to absorb well the erratic shots Canelo is sure to throw at his arms and body. However, there also persists the questions about Álvarez’s own conditioning following the Bivol fight which he will undoubtedly be looking to put to rest. Ultimately, I predict Canelo will give up the first few rounds as usual, but I believe as soon as he turns up the heat in the middle rounds Ryder will be unable to keep up and will be TKO’d by the 8th. 

The Undercard

Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron will play host to more than one come-up/comeback fight this weekend, as Julio Cesar Martinez attempts to gain some stock back following two heavily discouraging showings back-to-back, first understandably against the all-time great Román “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and then against fairly unknown Spaniard and ex-Olympian Samuel Cardona. Most who followed Martinez’s career saw early on that there would be challenges he wouldn’t be able to match at the peaks of flyweight and super flyweight due to his lack of a coherent process on offense (his famous switch hitting was always rather erratic) and his negligence on defense. The WBA’s 8th ranked super flyweight, Panamanian Ronal Batista, may very well upset him due to Martinez’s falling off a cliff athletically.

Additionally, Oleksandr Gvozdyk faces Ricards Bolotniks in a 10 rounder which will likely end in a knockout victory for the Ukrainian as he makes his return following his defeat at the hands of Artur Beterbiev. Bolotniks has been around the European light heavyweight scene for a while himself, having been stopped four times and most recently by the British ex-prospect (who also fights this weekend) Joshua Buatsi. Personally, I hope Gvozdyk moves on from his probable win against the Latvian and manages to put together a real run, as his name seems to have been forgotten by boxing audiences at large despite having been a real world class talent at 175. His fleet-footed style is entertaining and aesthetically pleasing to watch and losing to the heaviest handed man in boxing today is no great stain on any fighter’s record. 

Article by: Javier Negrón-Ramos