Canelo Alvarez has his next fight booked, and it will be taking place in his native Mexico. Alvarez confirmed on social media Tuesday that he will be defending his super middleweight titles against John Ryder on May 6.
The Cinco de Mayo weekend clash, which will be live on pay-per-view, will notably be taking place in Jalisco, Mexico — making it the first time Alvarez competes in his home country since 2011 when he stopped Kermit Cintron to defend his WBC junior middleweight title.
“Confirmed! I’ll be defending my titles in Jalisco this upcoming May 6th at the Akron stadium against John Ryder.”
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It's not a blockbuster matchup by any means. Ryder, who hails from the United Kingdom, holds a 32-5 record (currently on a four-fight winning streak) and previously lost in his attempt to become super middleweight champion when he was controversially outpointed by Callum Smith back in Nov. 2019.
However, it's a chance for Canelo Alvarez to get back into his groove after what was a challenging 2022 for the Mexican superstar. Alvarez was comprehensively outboxed by Dmitry Bivol in their light heavyweight matchup in May, suffering just his second career professional defeat in the process.
The Mexican got back to winning ways by outpointing rival Gennadiy Golovkin in their trilogy fight in September. However, it was far from an impressive victory with many observers believing Alvarez should have earned a finish.
He is still said to be targeting a rematch with Bivol in 2023 while fans are hopeful he faces names like David Benavidez down the line should the latter come out on top against Caleb Plant.