Unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez returns to the ring in his home country of Mexico to defend his titles against his WBO mandatory contender, John Ryder of England.
Alvarez has been away from the ring after surgery on an injured wrist since September's unanimous decision win over Gennady Golovkin and may be looking forward to a possible rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in the fall.
Ryder was once a contender at the European level but has won four straight since a controversial decision loss to then-WBA champion Callum Smith, including a close decision win over former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs and a stoppage win when undefeated Zach Parker was unable to continue after the fourth round with an injured hand.
Ryder is a deserving contender for the title but he appears overmatched against Alvarez.
Although Ryder will come forward and attack Alvarez, that is playing into the strengths of the stronger puncher, so unless Canelo has some injury issue during the fight, Ryder is the perfect opponent for a homecoming performance.
The undercard will have another world title fight with WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez defending his title against Ronal Batista of Panama.
Martinez has been rumored for unification fights later this year against fellow Matchroom boxers WBO champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez or recent Matchroom signee IBF champion Sunny Edwards, so a win over Batista is a must.
Former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk continues his comeback against Latvia's Ricards Bolotniks in a ten-rounder.
Gvozdyk returned in February for the first time since his knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev in 2019 with a six-round decision win and Bolotniks is remembered for his eleventh-round knockout loss in 2021 to top contender Joshua Buatsi in which Bolotniks gave Buatsi all the he wanted before the end.
Speaking of Joshua Buatsi, he will be fighting in the main event in Birmingham, England against Pawel Stepien in a light heavyweight fight.
Buatsi returns for the first time since his decision win over Craig Richards last year while the unbeaten Stepien has fought no one of name recognition, so who really knows what he will bring to the ring.
The final challenge fight takes place in Russia with a junior middleweight eliminator between Russia's Magomed Kurbanov and France's Michel Soro.
Both fighters are ranked in the top five by the WBA, so this is an important fight in the division ruled by unified champion Jermell Charlo.
The undefeated Kurbanov has notched three quality wins in his most recent fights over former champions Liam Smith and Patrick Teixeira along with previously unbeaten Johan Gonzalez.
Soro's previous two fights were against Israil Madrimov, losing the first fight by TKO in a controversial fashion in the ninth round as a hurt Soro was hit close to ten times after the bell to force a stoppage that would stand as a loss but the WBA would force a rematch in which the two clashed heads in the third round to force a no-contest.
Rather than face Soro for a third consecutive time, Madrimov refused and Kurbanov stepped in for the eliminator position.
Vince Samano: Ryder Split Decision
V.S: Batista Unanimous Decision
V.S: Bolotniks Unanimous Decision
TRS: Buatsi KO 3
V.S: Stepien Unanimous Decision
TRS and V.S: Kurbanov Unanimous Decision
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