WBA “regular” super middleweight champion David Morrell has no doubt that Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will defeat John Ryder.
Canelo will defend the undisputed super middleweight crown against Ryder on Saturday night in Mexico.
“One Hundred percent [Canelo will win]. Look what happened when Ryder was going to fight me [as the WBA mandatory]. They gave him 30 days to accept the fight or drop the possibility of being mandatory to fight for a title. I go into camp and then he says he wasn’t going to fight. He said that I didn’t have enough fights to fight him. Then he posted [on social media] that I was the one who didn’t want to fight him. I’m not one to respond [on social media], but I had to,” Morrell told George Ebro.
A few weeks ago, Morrell destroyed Olympian Yamaguchi Falcao in the first round. The fight was featured in the co-feature slot to Gervonta Davis’ mega-bout with Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After the fight, Morrell called for a showdown with WBC interim-champion David Benavidez.
“It has to happen because it is what everyone is waiting for. You have to sit down and negotiate because it is a complicated fight. Right now everyone is looking for Canelo, but there are more fighters out there. Everyone wants Canelo for the money. It is understandable because this is a business, but there are also more boxers out there,” Morrell said.
“That fight with Benavidez has to take place because he’s killing everyone on his side, and I have been killing everyone on mine. Some say that I need a couple of fights, but how long have they been saying that? When I started they said don’t put him with this one or that one, like in my second fight against Quinton Rankin and then the same thing against Lennox Allen, they said my team was crazy.”
If the fight happens, Morrell believes Canelo will not be able to avoid a future date with the winner.
“150 percent because who else would he go looking for. He’s already fought Plant, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders. Now he’s going against Ryder. Whether I win or Benavídez, Canelo has to fight with one of us, because who else is he going to look for. I don’t see the logic to continue evading [that scenario],” Morrell said.