Canelo Alvarez was forced to settle for a points victory against a gutsy and bloodied John Ryder at a raucous Mexican homecoming.
Canelo, handed victory by the judges 120-107, 118-109 and 118-109 on the scorecards, retained his undisputed super-middleweight world championship in front of approximately 50,000 fans at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara.
But it was the Briton, covered in blood throughout the contest after suffering a suspected broken nose, who salvaged a morale victory after recovering from a heavy knockdown in the fifth round.
Ryder, who earned his shot at the champion with victories over Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker last year, could not grasp his second chance at a world title after a hard-fought defeat to Callum Smith in 2019, but emerges with great credit after 12 gruelling rounds.
While Canelo, despite building more momentum after victory last time out against Gennady Golovkin following defeat to light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol, continues to show signs that his best is behind him.
Bivol is likely to relish a probable rematch later this year with the Mexican’s output fading in the closing stages of tonight’s fight.
