In an exclusive interview with Legalsportsbooks.com, former WBA super-middleweight champion George Groves gives his prediction for the highly anticipated super-middleweight clash between Canelo Alvarez & John Ryder.
Groves believes the Brit has a ‘big chance’ on Saturday night, and reveals what Ryder must do to beat Canelo
Ryder can beat Canelo with ‘volume of punches’
Groves goes into detail about how John Ryder can come away victorious against Canelo on Saturday night.
“If Ryder is to win this fight he’s going to need a high output and a big volume of punches. He’s going to have to try and dominate the rounds. You’re then thinking if he can’t stop Alvarez, getting a points decision in Mexico is going to be tough and he won’t want to leave it too close. I think the game plan from John Ryder needs to be; come out, start fast, be aggressive and try to box off that front foot and back Alvarez up.
In many ways both their styles match and don’t necessarily complement each other. So Ryder needs to close that distance like he did with Callum Smith and sit in the pocket and trade and try and do some damage downstairs, whack the arms, whack the body and then finish the exchanges and make sure he’s the last man to throw a punch at the end of each combination to catch the eyes of the judges.”
Ryder best British boxer Alvarez has faced, better than BJS, Smith & Khan
Speaking on Ryder’s attributes and how he ranks in terms of British opponents Canelo has faced, Groves said;
“Ryder is a good athlete, he’s very strong and he converts that strength into very decent punch power and he’s neat and tidy. His footwork is good and he can close the distance down very quickly. With the power in his legs he can spring into range very rapidly and let his hands go. I predict it to be a better fight than any of Alvarez’s previous fights against British opponents. That includes Billie Joe Saunders and Callum Smith. Before that you’re talking about Ryan Rhodes and Matthew Hatton. Amir Khan was giving away way too much weight.”
I had to contain my excitement for big title fights
When asked how he coped walking out to the biggest fights in his career, Groves said;
“My nerves were laced with excitement. I’d be really, really excited and trying to contain that excitement because potentially it’s just adrenaline wasted. You want to save that for the fight.”
Conor Benn might be out in LA with Ryder to get a boxing licence
When asked if it’s surprising that Benn was out with Ryder’s camp in LA, Groves responded;
“They’re friends I assume. I don’t know what Conor’s latest situation is. Whether he’s got a fight pending, whether he’s going through an appeals process and trying to get a licence maybe out in California now but everyone’s there for John Ryder. They’re a close team run by Tony Sims. John Ryder must be the longest standing man in that gym.”
Canelo bit off more than he could chew with Bivol
When discussing Alvarez’s last few performances, George Groves made this assessment;
“Alvarez is coming off that loss to Bivol where he just bit off a bit more than he could chew up at light heavyweight against a really good champion. We probably hadn’t seen the very best of him (Bivol) at that point and Alvarez probably thought ‘I’ve beaten Kovalev at light heavyweight and I can do the same to Bivol because I’ve cleaned up at middleweight.’ But Bivol was too big, too fast and too disciplined and beat him pretty comfortably in the end.”