Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) remained on course for another shot at Dmitry Bivol with a twelve round unanimous decision victory over the gutsy WBO mandatory challenger John “The Gorilla” Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) in front of 55,000 on Saturday night at the Estadio Akron in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.

The fight outcome is what many of us expected but the method, not so much.

Canelo applied pressure, able to back up the Englishman who was hindered from a nose that bled profusely from the third round.

Canelo dropped Ryder with a left/right in round five but no free lunches were handed out from Ryder who returned to his feet to give a solid performance for the rest of the way, Canelo was predictably a few levels above that were mirrored on the scorecards of 120-107, 118-109, 118-109.

Canelo stated afterwards that Ryder “was a very tough fighter,” and that his left hand performed “very good” post-surgery,

The rematch with Bivol now the focus but left the door open to all opposition, he said “If the fight with Bivol doesn’t happen, then we’ll see, I’m able to fight everybody.”