John Ryder fighting for mandatory shot at Callum Smith

ISLINGTONโ€™S John Ryder will be in action on the undercard of the Saul โ€œCaneloโ€ Alvarez vs Danny Jacobs unification clash on Saturday (May 4). He had been expecting to fight David Lemieux on the big show at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but the Canadian had to withdraw after injuring his right hand.

But Ryder will get a replacement opponent, boxing Bilal Akkawy for a WBA โ€˜Interimโ€™ super-middleweight title instead. โ€œWith Lemieux, it was a big upset but we got a great replacement in Bilal Akkawy. I think we’re all in for a real treat come Saturday night,” the Londoner promises.

An unbeaten 20-0-1 (16) Australian, Akkawy said, “This is a big opportunity. It’s an opportunity for me to prove myself. It’s a world title fight so there’s no way I would turn down a fight like that. I’m going to make the most out of the opportunity come Saturday.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn declared, โ€œIt’s a huge opportunity for John Ryder. He’s turned his career in extraordinary fashion. We know what a tough fight this is. We knew David Lemieux was a tough fight but we know Bilal Akkawy comes in as a young man, extremely hungry, very dangerous, and this is going to be a very explosive fight.”

Apart from the obvious appeal of a prominent spot on a Canelo undercard, this fight will reinforce Ryderโ€™s position as the mandatory for Callum Smithโ€™s WBA super-middleweight world title. โ€œIf John wins his next fight heโ€™s going to be mandatory for Callum whenever that comes up. That might be later on this year or early next year,โ€ Ryderโ€™s manager Charlie Sims told Boxing News. โ€œItโ€™s going to happen at some point.โ€

john ryder

โ€œIf John had a win over someone like Lemieux, it just gives him that extra profile boost that it needs to make it a big fight. I think Callumโ€™s looking for a big fight before he has to face his mandatory. It suited us that we were fighting Lemieux but plans have changed and this is the business of boxing,โ€ he added. โ€œIโ€™m gutted for John because although Johnโ€™s boxed some good fighters, he just needs a win over somebody with a credible nameโ€ฆ Lemieux, he had a credible name and I think he needed that on a big platform. Iโ€™m a bit gutted for John, because of all the preparation, heโ€™s been training since January for this fight. But the show must go on.

โ€œItโ€™s still a big platform, itโ€™s still going to be for a WBA โ€˜Interimโ€™ World title, so everythingโ€™s still there.โ€

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