Canelo Alvarez beats John Ryder with a dominant display in Mexico

John Ryder arrived in this land of prizefighters almost unknown, but he will for years be remembered in the minds and hearts of Mexico’s legion of ring fanatics for his astonishing bravery in defeat to one of their greatest fighters ever.

With only his family, his team and a half-dozen supporters willing to fund the 5,000-mile journey of hope over reality, the self-proclaimed Islington Gorilla completed the championship haul of his near-suicidal mission against Saul Canelo Alvarez.

He came through blood, sweat and pain to somehow deny the undisputed super-middleweights the statement knockout with which he intended to herald his comeback after one embarrassing defeat in a year of injuries and setbacks.

But no tears. Ryder is too much of a man for that, too proud a boxer, too brave for his own good.

The momentous victory with which he hoped to claim one of the most remarkable away wins in British boxing history, if not the finest, was beyond him. Instead, he goes home as one of the most heroic losers in the world’s toughest game.

He got up from a sickening knockdown, grabbed the straw of a referee who decided another was a misstep, and in a surreal sequence like he was something out of a Rocky movie, just refused to hit the canvas while Alvarez rocked the whole ring with thunderous blow after blow.

Some of us at ringside were calling for his corner to throw in the towel at the time, but they knew their man better than we did.

This was the night, the fight, of his life. The defining moment of an honest career. A highlight to watch to the end. Heaven knows how. With his nose broken to smithereens. His face was so bloody and scarred it wouldn’t have looked out of place on a butcher’s counter.

Canelo led the salute to a hero. Not the least knowing this opponent from scratch would have given him, if not a moment of glory, this chance to prove he still has stamina for the long run. The power to deal irreparable damage – as he did with the body shots that consumed much of Ryder’s power but not the will.

In short, its mojo. Many a superior boxer would have succumbed. But will the next men have the heart to persevere. A question he will ask Dmitry Bivol more urgently for the second time around September.

And far from being disappointed by the lack of knockout, the audience greeted both men.

Canelo brought boxing home to the high plains of Guadalajara amid a dust storm of Mexican patriotism on Cinco de Mayo weekend’s national celebration of a famous battle during their war of independence two centuries ago.

The air of this city that gave birth to Mariachi music and this curiously red-haired warrior who has led boxing for nearly a decade was almost too stuffy to breathe during the day, until a brisk breeze arose to clear the atmosphere.

The pollution, that is. Not the feverish expectation in the futuristic new stadium that sits like a spaceship on top of a green hill jutting out of a barren landscape on the outskirts of the city.

Alvarez had been so bullied everywhere he went over the past 48 hours that streets in the historic center were regularly closed to both motorized and pedestrian traffic as his procession of limousines made its way away from mass media conferences involving 3,000 people. squeaky school kids and his hotel.

An idol is what an idol does and this one regularly made fans stop to meet and greet the masses. They worship him.

Ryder evaded worship as much as possible, maintaining an almost karma-like serenity while fulfilling his promotional obligations.

Not that Alvarez was the least bit agitated. Certainly not in the dressing room where he slowly tied his own shoelaces and then sat ear to ear with his beloved white-haired grandmother to receive the Catholic blessing she bestows on him before attending one of his fights.

Then came the first clinch of the night, with his beautiful wife, followed by kisses from his adorable children.

Boxing is a family affair for Saul Alvarez. With him as the breadwinner, to the tune of another eight-figure purse to add to career earnings of over $500 million.

How long that career will continue apparently depended on what happened Saturday night at the Estadio Akron.

When Ryder was chosen as his warm-up opponent for a rematch in September, Russia’s Dmitry Bivol, who shocked him a year ago, Canelo said he would retire if he lost, even though the North Londoner was the mandatory challenger for a of his series. of championship belts.

No Mexican feared that would happen. Certainly none of the 60,000 in attendance, as the local temperature plummeted from 91 Fahrenheit in the late afternoon to 81 in the mid-evening, only to rise a few degrees from the compressed frenzy of the crowd.

The Mexican wave was practiced several times before a huge surge greeted their hero’s entry

Hardly a handful of English travelers were here to sing God Save The King, of all days. Ryder was bombarded with jeers. And waited as videos of Canelo’s life, his knockouts and scenes from his home state of Jalisco also preceded the champion as he entered the ring wearing a crown of gold. He then duly won a first round with a collection of his favorite body photos. Like he did the second.

Ryder got going in the third, particularly close range with a couple of uppercuts, but still finished the round with blood gushing from a possibly broken nose.

Alvarez went for those wounded noses with vengeful straight rights while also working the body. As Ryder’s hands came down to protect his ribs, Alvarez fell like a sack against the ropes with a relentless right cross. To his great credit, Ryder not only got up, but fought back.

More impressively, the challenger increased his stroke count in the sixth to win his first round on my card, despite nearly falling again.

Ryder’s was a mask of blood-red pain, but he kept throwing punches no matter how many punches he took.

Ryder went down again, but while it was clearly a nasty blow that did the damage, the referee seemed to rule it as a trip.

What a round and what a man in the ninth. Ryder staggered through the ring as Canelo went for the kill, but somehow managed to stay on his feet drunk. Survived the tenth. Then he reappeared for the eleventh and fought his way to a potential share of that loot. And won a do-0r-die last.

A hero in defeat. And applauded as such by the champion in the end