Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has a date and location for his next fight scheduled for Saturday, May 6 at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, where he faces John Ryder. Battling it out in front of his home country crowd on Cinco de Mayo weekend, the Mexican boxing star defends his undisputed super middleweight title against WBO mandatory challenger from England. The pair squares off in the scheduled for 12 rounds world championship bout live stream on DAZN PPV in the United States and Canada, and DAZN in other countries.
The date when Canelo vs Ryder airs live in the UK and Australia is Sunday, May 7.
Canelo Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) was in action last September at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he made the first successful defense of his undisputed 168-pound crown and retained his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts, scoring a unanimous decision against his old rival Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in their trilogy fight. With the victory the 32-year-old native of Guadalajara, Jalisco rebounded from the defeat suffered in May 2022 at the same venue, where he dropped a UD against Dmitry Bivol in his bid to claim the WBA light heavyweight title and become a two-time 175-pound champion.
The upcoming fight against Ryder marks Canelo’s first outing in Mexico in over eleven and a half years.
“I feel really happy to be coming back in May because following my surgery, I was unsure of when I’d be coming back,” said Canelo. “Returning to the ring and coming back to fight in Jalisco, where I’m from, makes me especially happy. And in John Ryder, I’m facing a very competitive fighter.”
John Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) last fought in November 2022 at The O2 Arena in London, where he defeated Zach Parker via fifth-round RTD, secured his fourth win in a row and landed the vacant WBO interim super middleweight belt. Before that, the 34-year-old from Islington, London took a split decision against former two-time middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs.
“There’s no denying that Canelo is one of the greats and I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s achieved in the sport but I fully believe this is my time fulfil my dream of becoming a world champion,” said Ryder.
“I’m not going over there for a holiday. For me this is purely business and my full focus is on going into his backyard in Guadalajara on May 6 and bringing those belts back with me to the UK. I want to thank the team, Tony and Charlie Sims and Matchroom Boxing for making this happen.”
The list of bouts featured on Canelo vs Ryder undercard is expected to be announced shortly.
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