“If Alvarez is indeed on the decline, Ryder should be grateful. Because if that assessment is as accurate as it is curious coming from a man beaten purple, Ryder got off easy. Against a prime Alvarez, he might have had his breathing compromised not by a broken nose but by a liver traumatically removed. Ryder might have been spared a round or three, the opportunity to lean so heavily on his preternatural toughness, and thus denied the reward of his futile challenge. Instead, Ryder had his nose broken in round two, survived a knockdown in round five, and won four rounds total in the eyes of three judges—and for that, a hero’s welcome awaits him in England.”
Read Stopping Short of the End: On Saul Alvarez on Hannibal Boxing.
In Between Rounds 