John Ryder’s trainer assured Canelo Alvarez and anyone else listening Wednesday that Alvarez won’t have to go looking for the British southpaw Saturday night.

Tony Sims promised during the final press conference prior to their super middleweight title fight that Ryder intends to stand his ground versus Alvarez. The heavily favored, fully unified 168-pound champion is considered a harder puncher than Ryder, yet the visiting challenger will likely have to fight aggressively to win rounds in a 12-round bout that’ll take place at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico – just outside of Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara.

“We look forward to the fight on Saturday night,” Sims said during a press conference at Hotel Riu Plaza Guadalajara. “And John Ryder, it will be a great fight. He won’t be going on the back foot. He’ll be standing in front of Canelo, and I believe this is gonna make for a fantastic night.”

Ryder, 34, has questioned how much greatness Alvarez has left in his 32-year-old body following 62 professional fights during a career that began when he was just 15. Alvarez also will fight for the first time since he had surgery in October to repair ligament damage in his left wrist.

Though confident, Ryder politely spoke about the most significant fight of his career during the press conference.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” Ryder said. “Many times in my career this looked like an aim in the distance, but it’s here now. It’s finally upon us and I don’t wish to waste this opportunity. I appreciate the level of the task at hand for me, but I’ve left no stone unturned in this camp and the aim is still to come away victorious come Saturday.”

London’s Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) became the mandatory challenger for Alvarez’s WBO belt by stopping previously unbeaten Brit Zach Parker in his last fight. Parker (22-1, 16 KOs) suffered a fracture in his right hand that prohibited him from continuing after the fourth round November 26 at O2 Arena in London.

Ryder’s lone loss in the past six years was a controversial 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Callum Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) in November 2019. That fight for Smith’s WBA super middleweight title took place at Echo Arena in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool, England.

Alvarez, meanwhile, is listed by most sportsbooks as at least a 16-1 favorite in their fight for Alvarez’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO championships.  

Alvarez-Ryder will be the main event of a DAZN Pay-Per-View show in the U.S.

DAZN subscribers can purchase this five-fight show for $59.99 if it is bought through the streaming service’s website. It will cost $79.99 for non-subscribers who buy it through cable and satellite providers.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.