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Canelo Alvarez is coming home, and he’s bringing a solid undercard with him. Julio Cesar Martinez aims to rekindle his career against Ronal Batista, Oleksandr Gvozdyk aims to do the same, against Ricards Bolotniks, and Steve Spark throws down with Gabriel Valenzuela in a well-matched contest.
The fight will be available on DAZN PPV in the US and DAZN streaming wherever it’s available worldwide. The main card will start at 7PM ET, with ringwalks on the main event expected 11PM ET.
This page is for coverage of the undercard fights. Stay tuned here for the latest on the night, then join us over on the main event page for live play-by-play.
Update: Okay, the prelims are done. Join us over on the main page for the main event in just a little while.
Canelo vs Ryder undercard
Results and Highlights
Unified super-middleweight championship: Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. John Ryder
WBC world flyweight title: Julio Cesar Martinez vs. Ronal Rolando Batista
- Julio Cesar Martinez was looking to regain some of his momentum after a dreadful 2022
- He’d previously been one of the most exciting, feared boxers in the lighter divisions, but he followed up a complete schooling at the hands of Roman Gonzalez- understandable- with a baffling, confused performance against unfancied and injured Spaniard Samuel Carmona.
- Rolan Batista was the kind of opponent who he should beat if he’s at his best, but if he’s truly lost a step, we’ll find that out.
- The first couple of rounds saw Batista jabbing well, but by the end of round 2 Martinez had figured out the timing a bit and starting to explode in past it to land some solid shots.
- Batista docked points after the fourth for hitting after the bell, the second time in the fight that happened.
- In the fifth, Batista was walking Martinez down and landing combinations of his own. Good fight, but Martinez should be very concerned about his career from here.
- Martinez scored a knockdown in the 7th. Initially ruled a slip, it was corrected after video review. This is a little controversial: the call appears to have been made on the say-so of WBC president Mauricio Sulemain, not the ref himself.
- And Martinez closes the show in the 11th, unleashing a barage of unanswered punches along the ropes that cause the referee to step in and wave it off.
- Not the convincing performance he needed, but Martinez by TKO-11
Super Lightweight: Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela vs. Steve Spark
- Gabriel Gollaz and Steve Stark battled it out to make an impression at 140lbs.
- Both are former opponents of American Montana love, with Gollaz dropping a decision to him early last year before Steve Spark got the win by outboxing him then getting a bizarre DQ when Love flipped him out of the ring onto his head.
- This was a 10-rounder and not for any belts, but they’re well matched, and a winner will find their career advanced considerably. Gollaz offered the local interest, though the crowd hadn’t really turned up yet.
- Things got going in the 6th, with Gollaz scoring a slightly controversial knockdown that seemed borderline low but was nonetheless counted.
- Spark responded in the 7th, clearly hurting Gollaz with bodyshots of his own.
- A fun little back-and-forth ended in a split decision victory for Gollaz, 96-93, 94-95, 95-94
- A little bit controversial, as a lot of observers had Sparks shading the victory
Featherweight: Nathan Devon Rodriguez vs. Alexander Mejia
- Nathan Rodriguez is the freshest of faces, an 18-year-old out of California. Matchroom must think a lot of him to give him this prominent a spot on a Canelo PPV.
- Mejia is a journeyman, who looks to test Rodriguez with his size and strength
- The mixed decision reflects a close fight in which Rodriguez did indeed find his physical skills tested, before his superior skillset allowed him to just pull away.
- Rodriguez wins a split decision: 96-94, 96-93, 95-95
Light-heavyweight: Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Ricards Bolotniks
- The 36-year-old Gvozdyk is back after a near 4-year layoff, having suffered a terrific beating at the hands of Artur Beterbiev in 2019.
- Bolotniks is his first challenging opponent after a warm-up against a journeyman in January.
- Gvozdyk took a little while to get going here, but once he did he worked Bolotniks over with some chopping overhand rights.
- Gvozdyk wins with a TKO in the 7th round.
Light-middleweight: Lawrence King vs. Elio German Rafael
- King scored a second round TKO
Super-featherweight: Johansen Alvarez Suarez vs. Johan Ivan Rodriguez Arreguin
- Suarez defeated Arreguin in a 6-round decision
- Scores were 59-55 across the board
Middleweight: Abilkhan Amankul vs. Fabian Rios Frausto
Super-middleweight: Bek Nurmaganbet vs. Argenis Espana
Light middleweight: Carlo Emiliano Rojo vs. Fabian Trejo Rivera
Flyweight: Jesus Larios vs. Damian Efrain De La Torre Nunez
- The debuting Larios beat late replacement Nunez in a 4-round decision
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