Who is John Ryder, the man looking to spoil Canelo Alvarez's homecoming - ESPN

John Ryder has taken an undulating route to Saturday's world title fight against Canelo Alvarez, overcoming a series of setbacks to arrive at the biggest night of his career.

Ryder (32-5, 14 KOs) will earn a career-best payday when he faces Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) in Guadalajara, Mexico. But those putting down money would be brave to bet in his favor. After all, the odds are stacked against him: Not only will it be Canelo's first fight in Mexico in nearly 12 years — a homecoming he's waited years to make — but Canelo is also one of the best fighters on the planet.

Ryder has been defying the odds all of his career. He has recorded four wins since he lost a controversial decision to English rival Callum Smith in 2019 and seemed to improve each time out. Ryder was impressive against Smith, but his momentum stalled because of inactivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

«2019 was a great year for me; I got to box in Vegas then I had the Smith fight,» he said. «People see it as a bad thing [losing by a disputed decision to Smith], but I got a lot of credit from it. I still think I should have won. I had a lot of momentum, and momentum is what I thrive on. I was all set for a big 2020, looking to get off to a flier, and then COVID hit. There were big fights planned for 2021. It was a nightmare two years.»

Ryder got his career going again with a split decision win over former champion Daniel Jacobs in a WBA world title eliminator in February 2022. He fought his way into the fight from Round 7 to win by scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 113-115 after Jacobs controlled most of the fight up until the midway point.

«It feels like a coming-out party after 12 years in the game,» Ryder said after the fight.

Ryder then claimed the WBO