I KO’d Amir Khan, battered Callum Smith and broke Billy Joe Saunders – now I’m going to beat my eighth Brit

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is looking to add an eighth British fighter to his legendary CV when he takes on John Ryder in Mexico.

The pound-for-pound superstar will be confident of defending his undisputed super-middleweight championship on Saturday after previously easing through seven fights against Englishmen.

Matthew Hatton and Ryan Rhodes

By 2011, Canelo was one of the brightest prospects in boxing heading into his first world title bout, but his 36-0-1 record suggested he was a fight veteran.

The 20-year-old eased to a decision win over Matthew Hattton, the brother of British boxing legend Ricky Hatton, to pick up the vacant WBC light-middleweight title.

All three judges scored the fight 119-108 in Alvarez’ favour and the only reason the fight wasn’t a complete whitewash was because the youngster was deducted a point for hitting after the referee called break.

After making Hatton his first British victim, Canelo booked a title defence another Englishman and he faced Rhodes in Guadalajara, Mexico.

‘Spice Boy’ was taking a significant step up in level following titles wins at British and European level. The fighter from Sheffield fought bravely but was outclassed by Alvarez who forced the stoppage in the final round.

After beating Brits in back-to-back fights, it was five years and ten fights before Canelo faced off against another one and on that occasion he made a big statement.

Amir Khan

In 2016, Canelo clashed with Khan in a surprise showdown which took place on Cinco de Mayo in Las Vegas.

The Bolton native spent most of his career competing between lightweight (135lbs) and welterweight (147lbs) but jumped up for a one-off 155lb catchweight contest against arguably the best fighter on the planet.

It did not end well. Khan enjoyed early success as he was able to use his lightening hand speed to befuddle his power punching opponent in the first few rounds of their WBC middleweight title bout.

Ultimately, Canelo found a home for a huge overhand right which sent Khan backwards to the canvas and knocked him out cold.

“I really feel sorry for Amir Khan, but he was in my way,” Alvarez told DAZN as he watched the KO back seven years later.

“I needed to finish him somehow. This is how I finished the fight. But I feel sorry for him.”

The Smith Brothers

Buoyed by his third win over a UK fighter, Canelo jumped straight into a scrap with another one when he faced WBO light-middleweight champion Liam Smith in September 2016.

‘Beefy’ was in trouble in the seventh round when he was floored by two right hooks from the Mexican, but he managed to see out the three-minute frame on his feet.

However, he was unable to beat the count in round nine when Canelo followed a left hook to the head with a crunching blow to Smith’s ribs which sent him to the canvas. 

Four years later, Liam’s younger brother, Callum, ran into the boxing superstar during his quest to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion.

The WBA [super] titleholder managed to survive 12 rounds but lost his belt after being on the wrong end of a 36-minute beatdown at the hands of Canelo.

Smith took so many punches on the arms that he was seen sporting a bizarre swollen bicep while leaving the arena following his first and only career defeat.  

Rocky Fielding

Inbetween fights with The Smith Brothers, Canelo squared off against Rocky Fielding in his eagerly anticipated DAZN debut.

The defining moment of Fielding’s career came in 2018 when he put his WBA [regular] super-middleweight title on the line against boxing’s best at Madison Square Garden in New York.

However, the Liverpudlian offered nothing for Canelo who dropped him four times en route to a third-round stoppage win to claim his first title in the 168lb division he later became undisputed in.

Fielding, who retired earlier this year following a TKO defeat to light-heavyweight prospect Dan Azeez, recently reflected on Canelo’s famous punching power.

While ‘Rocky from Stocky’ gives Alavrez credit for his well-placed body shots, he says Tony Bellew is the hardest hitter he’s ever faced after sharing many sparring rounds with the former WBC cruiserweight champion.

He told talkSPORT: “I had lots of sparring with Tony when I was an amateur, he helped me out, and then when I turned pro we had some good spars. I got caught a few times off him and I felt it down to my boots, so I would probably say Bellew has hit me the hardest.

Billy Joe Saunders

Canelo was struggling before finding a brutal punch to stop Saunders in his last match-up with a British fighter.

‘BJS’ was using his slick boxing to outpoint his opponent before getting caught with a shot that shattered his orbital and brought an end the 168lb unification bout.

Canelo completed his super-middleweight belt collection by stopping Caleb Plant in his very next fight to capture the IBF title in November 2021.

The 32-year-old set about repeating his history-making accomplishment at light-heavyweight but ran into Dmitry Bivol who easily outpointed him over 12 rounds.

An eagerly anticipated trilogy bout followed with Gennady Golovkin and Canelo finally got a convincing win over the aging Kazakstani fighter before booking his latest defence against Ryder.

The 34-year-old has suffered defeats against Smith, Saunders and Fielding during his career but appears to be peaking following a win over two-time middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs.

Ryder will be desperate to break the trend of British fighters losing to Canelo but he’ll have to pull off a huge upset to avoid becoming his eighth UK victim.