Saul Alvarez targets Dmitry Bivol rematch after easing to victory on Mexico return

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez made a triumphant return to Mexico with a dominant points victory over John Ryder on Saturday night to comfortably retain his undisputed super middleweight world title.

Alvarez, who has not fought in Mexico since 2011, never looked in danger of losing to Ryder, although the British fighter contributed to an entertaining bout in front of a packed crowd at Estadio Akron in Zapopan.

Ryder, whose face was already a bloody mess by the time Alvarez knocked him down in the fifth round, battled gamely in the latter stages but the undisputed super middleweight champion emerged a clear winner in his first fight in his native Mexico in nearly 12 years.

Judge Jeremy Hayes scored the bout 120-107 for Alvarez while Joe Pasquale and Gerardo Martino both saw it 118-109 for the champion, who delighted a sellout crowd of some 50,000 at the open-air stadium in his hometown.

"It's a historic moment for me," Alvarez, 32, said. "I'm blessed to be here with my people who supported me from the beginning."

Alvarez improved to 59-2-2 with 39 knockouts while Ryder, the mandatory challenger, fell to 38-6 with 18 wins inside the distance.

After a tentative opening round, Alvarez began to open up, landing a bevy of right hands that had Ryder bleeding from the nose and mouth by the third round.

A brutal left-right combination dropped Ryder in the fifth round. He beat the count and held on until the bell, but he was in trouble again in the sixth when another big right from Alvarez had the Briton's knees sagging.

But Ryder, nicknamed "The Gorilla," kept coming. He was down again after a right from Alvarez late in the eighth, but that was ruled a slip and he had bounced back up moments before the bell.

Shaken again in the ninth,