John Ryder (boxer)

John Ryder (born 19 July 1988) is a British professional boxer who held the WBA interim super-middleweight title in 2019. At regional level he has challenged twice for the British middleweight title in 2013 and 2015, and once for the British super-middleweight title in 2017.

John Ryder
Ryder in 2015
Statistics
Nickname(s)	The Gorilla
Weight(s)	Middleweight Super-middleweight
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Reach	72 in (183 cm)[1]
Nationality	British
Born	19 July 1988 Islington, London, England
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	34
Wins	29
Wins by KO	16
Losses	5

Amateur career

As an amateur, Ryder fought for Angel Amateur Boxing Club in his birthplace of Islington, winning 30 fights out of 35.[2]

Professional career

Ryder turned professional on 10 September 2010, scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) against Ben Deghani. Having won his first fifteen fights, Ryder faced fellow undefeated prospect Billy Joe Saunders for his British and Commonwealth middleweight titles on 21 September 2013, losing a close unanimous decision (UD) with scores of 115–113, 115–113 and 115–114 for Saunders.[3] Ryder won his first regional championship—the vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title—on 11 October 2014, defeating Theophilus Tetteh via fifth-round TKO.[4] He defended this title once, against Billi Facundo Godoy with a tenth-round TKO.[5]

After Saunders vacated the British middleweight title, a bout was held between top contenders Ryder and Nick Blackwell on 30 May 2015. Ryder was widely ahead on the scorecards when he was stopped on his feet by Blackwell in the seventh round.[6] Ryder bounced back on 30 January 2016, winning his second regional championship—the vacant WBA International middleweight title—with a UD over Sergey Khomitsky.[7]

Ryder defended his WBA International middleweight title against Jack Arnfield on 24 September 2016, losing by UD over twelve rounds.[8]

Ryder rebounded in his next fight, defeating Adam Etches by UD to win the IBF International super-middleweight title.[9]

On 22 April 2017, Ryder moved up to super-middleweight to face Rocky Fielding for the British title but lost on a controversial split decision (SD).[10]

On 5 May, 2018, Ryder faced domestic rival Jamie Cox at The O2 Arena on the undercard of the rematch between David Haye and Tony Bellew. In a fight that had a grueling start, both fighters were trading punches from close range early. This led to Ryder dropping Cox in the second round. Cox would not be able to beat the referee's count, although by a tiny margin, earning Ryder the KO victory.[11]

In his next fight, Ryder faced undefeated Russian challenger Andrey Sirotkin. Sirotkin gave Ryder problems early in the fight with his jab. By the time the fight came to the sixth round, Ryder looked like he was gaining control of the fight, hurting Sirotkin with a body shot. The punishment continued in the seventh round, culminating in a right hook to Sirotkin's body, from which the Russian would not recover. Ryder was awarded the KO win in the seventh round.[12]

On the Canelo Álvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs card in Las Vegas in May 2019, Ryder beat Bilal Akkawy by TKO in the third round to win the vacant WBA interim super-middleweight title and put himself in line to challenge Callum Smith for the WBA (Super) and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles.[13]

Following the successful defeat of Akkawy, Ryder fought Callum Smith for the super-middleweight titles in November 2019, losing via UD .[14] Ryder managed to keep Smith on the inside for the beginning rounds. In the third round, Smith was able to impose his will, setting up for right hands with his long job. Ryder managed to get Smith to fight on the inside again in the fifth round. As the fight went on, frequent clinching slowed the pace down. In the last rounds, Smith looked like he was tired, while Ryder was being the aggressor. Smith managed to land a couple of right hands before the final bell, as Ryder was still charging forward. The judges scored the fight 117–111 and 116–112 twice in favour of Smith, with some media outlets describing the scores as "controversial".[15][16][17][18]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary

34 fights	29 wins	5 losses
By knockout	16	1
By decision	12	4
By disqualification	1	0

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
34	Win	29–5	Mike Guy	UD	10	18 Dec 2020	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida, US
33	Loss	28–5	Callum Smith	UD	12	23 Nov 2019	M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, England	For WBA (Super) and The Ring super-middleweight titles
32	Win	28–4	Bilal Akkawy	TKO	3 (12), 2:12	4 May 2019	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US	Won vacant WBA interim super-middleweight title
31	Win	27–4	Andrey Sirotkin	KO	7 (12), 2:54	27 Oct 2018	Copper Box Arena, London, England
30	Win	26–4	Jamie Cox	KO	2 (12), 0:50	5 May 2018	The O2 Arena, London, England
29	Win	25–4	Patrick Nielsen	KO	5 (10), 3:00	14 Oct 2017	The SSE Arena Wembley, London, England
28	Loss	24–4	Rocky Fielding	SD	12	22 Apr 2017	Echo Arena, Liverpool, England	For vacant British super-middleweight title
27	Win	24–3	Adam Etches	UD	12	4 Feb 2017	London Olympia, London, England	Won vacant IBF International super-middleweight title
26	Loss	23–3	Jack Arnfield	UD	12	24 Sep 2016	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England	Lost WBA International middleweight title
25	Win	23–2	Robert Talarek	PTS	6	28 May 2016	The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
24	Win	22–2	Sergey Khomitsky	UD	12	30 Jan 2016	Copper Box Arena, London, England	Won vacant WBA International middleweight title
23	Win	21–2	Adam Jones	PTS	6	10 Oct 2015	York Hall, London, England
22	Loss	20–2	Nick Blackwell	TKO	7 (12), 2:36	30 May 2015	The O2 Arena, London, England	For vacant British middleweight title
21	Win	20–1	Billi Facundo Godoy	TKO	10 (12), 1:52	31 Jan 2015	The O2 Arena, London, England	Retained WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
20	Win	19–1	Theophilus Tetteh	TKO	5 (10), 2:56	11 Oct 2014	The O2 Arena, London, England	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
19	Win	18–1	Ruslans Pojonisevs	PTS	6	19 Jul 2014	Camden Centre, London, England
18	Win	17–1	Jez Wilson	TKO	9 (10), 1:09	5 Apr 2014	York Hall, London, England
17	Win	16-1	Giorgi Kandelaki	PTS	6	15 Mar 2014	Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
16	Loss	15–1	Billy Joe Saunders	UD	12	21 Sep 2013	Copper Box Arena, London, England	For British and Commonwealth middleweight titles
15	Win	15–0	Yoann Bloyer	TKO	2 (6), 0:45	13 Jul 2013	Craven Park, Hull, England
14	Win	14–0	Farai Musiyiwa	PTS	8	9 Mar 2013	Wembley Arena, London, England
13	Win	13–0	Eamonn O'Kane	TKO	8 (10), 1:33	8 Dec 2012	London Olympia, London, England
12	Win	12–0	Sandor Micsko	TKO	2 (8), 2:52	8 Sep 2012	Alexandra Palace, London, England
11	Win	11–0	Luke Robinson	PTS	8	26 May 2012	Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
10	Win	10–0	Alistair Warren	PTS	8	17 Mar 2012	Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, England
9	Win	9–0	Mariusz Biskupski	TKO	2 (8), 2:21	28 Jan 2012	York Hall, London, England
8	Win	8–0	Zoran Cvek	TKO	3 (10), 2:49	3 Dec 2011	Prince Regent Hotel, Chigwell, England
7	Win	7–0	Luke Osman	TKO	2 (6), 2:13	9 Nov 2011	York Hall, London, England
6	Win	6–0	Danny Brown	TKO	1 (4), 0:37	8 Oct 2011	York Hall, London, England
5	Win	5–0	Lee Noble	PTS	6	30 Apr 2011	London Olympia, London, England
4	Win	4–0	Dalton Miller	RTD	2 (4), 3:00	26 Mar 2011	City Limits Pavilion, London, England
3	Win	3–0	Lewis Byrne	PTS	4	19 Feb 2011	Wembley Arena, London, England
2	Win	2–0	Sabie Montieth	DQ	1 (4), 1:00	4 Dec 2010	York Hall, London, England	Montieth disqualified for headbutting
1	Win	1–0	Ben Deghani	TKO	1 (4), 1:30	10 Sep 2010	York Hall, London, England

References

1. DAZN tale of the tape prior to the Callum Smith fight.
2. "John Ryder set to go pro". Boxing News 24. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
3. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1782841
4. Brennan, Rob (29 January 2015). "Islington middleweight John Ryder wants a proper fight at the O2 Arena". Islington Gazette. Archant. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
5. "John Wayne Hibbert and John Ryder earn stoppage victories at the O2 Arena". Sky Sports. Sky. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
6. "Nick Blackwell wins British middleweight title with stoppage victory over John Ryder". Sky Sports. Sky. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
7. https://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/12183/10149961/john-ryder
8. Gilbert, Peter (25 September 2016). "Jack Arnfield upsets John Ryder with points victory". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
9. Assuncao, Miguel (4 February 2017). "John Ryder Captures IBF Regional Belt, Defeats Adam Etches". BoxingScene. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
10. Prentice, David (23 April 2017). "Rocky Fielding exorcises demons after attritional scrap with John Ryder". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
11. "John Ryder Knocks Out Jamie Cox in Two Rounds". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
12. "John Ryder Knocks Out Andrey Sirotkin in Seventh Round". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
13. Gilbert, Peter (5 May 2019). "Canelo vs Jacobs: John Ryder preserves mandatory status to Calllum Smith's WBA 'Super' title". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
14. Gilbert, Peter (24 November 2019). "Smith vs Ryder: Callum Smith defeats John Ryder to retain WBA crown in homecoming fight". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
15. "Callum Smith Overcomes John Ryder With Questionable Scores". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
16. "Callum Smith defeats John Ryder to retain world title". The Independent. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
17. Christ, Scott (23 November 2019). "Callum Smith wins questionable decision over John Ryder to retain belt". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
18. Jones, Rich (13 July 2020). "John Ryder says beating Callum Smith to Canelo super fight would be "karma"". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

External links

• Boxing record for John Ryder from BoxRec
• John Ryder profile at Matchroom Boxing
• John Ryder - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live