Canelo Alvarez has his sights set on his rematch with Dmitry Bivol, even though he has a fight with John Ryder on May 6th, 2023, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Canelo’s defeat against Bivol hampered the Mexican’s star power, with thoughts immediately turning to a rematch.
While that may have been the case, Canelo cannot afford to overlook Ryder. Any hopes of a rematch with Bivol would be over if he were to come second best against Ryder.
After all, the Brit is arguably in the biggest fight of his career. And yet, those close to Canelo suggest that he may be looking past Ryder.
“He wants to win this fight and then go after Bivol. Canelo is focused on one thing only. He doesn’t mention anything else, but he mentions Bivol.
“He wants to beat Bivol. After his losing to Bivol, something sparked in him and brought that animal back in him.
“Every day he’s working hard, and you see it. He’s looking in great shape with the speed.
“He’s always had that defense, but you can tell his mindset is different right now,” Oscar Valdez to Fight Hub TV
Should Canelo come out victorious, as he expected, then a bespoke WBC Puebla-Jalisco belt is on offer for the winner. However, getting that may not be as easy as first thought.
With that being said, Chris Algieri has backed the Brit to put on a good performance.
🔰 WBC Puebla-Jalisco Belt 🔰
The World Boxing Council presents the “Puebla-Jalisco” belt which will be in the line for Canelo VS Ryder. This commemorative belt for May 5 merged traditional icons of each state’s cultural background. pic.twitter.com/UzYPCZeFTa
— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) April 26, 2023
“I think John Ryder is much better than people give him credit for. He’s very crafty, and he’s physically strong. They didn’t nickname him ‘The Gorilla’ for no reason. He’s got a little bit of a height advantage of Canelo. They’re closer in size.
“Canelo does really well against bigger guys, bigger slower guys. John’s not that type of guy. So it’s a different kind of fight, and also Canelo is coming off a hand injury. Fighting a durable guy like him, that’s not an easy fight,” Algeri