By Brian Webber: Canelo Alvarez is expected to face this Saturday’s John Ryder vs. Zach Parker winner in May as his tune-up opponent.
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) has decided not to schedule a rematch with Dmitry Bivol for May on Cinco de Mayo because he’s coming off wrist surgery.
For a fight as necessary as the Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) match, Canelo wants to test out his left wrist on a lesser threat before taking on the talented unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion.
American boxing fans will be upset if Canelo fights the Ryder-Parker winner because they want to see him face talented fighters like Bivol, David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, or David Morrell.
Fighting the Ryder vs. Parker winner will give Canelo the chance to make his long-awaited fight in the UK.
There’s been talk about Canelo fighting in England for many years, and now he’s finally got the excuse to travel there to perform in front of the fans.
While it might make the British fans happy to see Canelo fighting one of their own in the UK, it won’t do anything for the U.S fans because they want to watch Canelo face a real threat capable of potentially beating him.
Parker and Ryder probably aren’t good enough to beat Canelo unless the Mexican star turns in another poor performance, as we saw from him in his loss to Bivol and his life & death victory over an old-looking Gennadiy Golovkin last September.
Parker 22-0, 16 KOs) is ranked #1 WBO and Ryder #2. The two are battling for the WBO interim 168-lb title this Saturday, November 26th, at the O2 Arena in London.
It’s believed that the 34-year-old Ryder (31-5, 17 KOs) is the fighter Canelo has his eyes on for his May tune-up fight, but given that he’s going up against the younger, stronger, and more dangerous 28-year-old Parker, the chances are that he’ll lose.
Unfortunately for Canelo, he’s got to take on a decent opponent for his tune-up fight because he’s fighting DAZN pay-per-view, and he can’t fight a punching bag next May.
Even with Canelo coming off wrist surgery, he’s more than good enough to battle the Ryder-Parker winner and come out victorious.
Fans wanted to see Canelo fight the rematch with Bivol next May, as he already swerved him last September to face 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy match.
Fans no longer wished to see Canelo fight Golovkin because GGG has stopped fighting cutting-edge opposition in the last four years since his loss to the Mexican star in 2018.
