By Miguel Rivera
Arena VFG, Jalisco, Mexico - Junior middleweight contender Ryan Rhodes (45-5, 31KOs) was very gracious in defeat. He was stopped in the twelfth round by WBC champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (37-0, 27KOs) and made no excuses when interviewed at ringside. Rhodes told reporters that he underestimated the power of Alvarez and he was badly hurt by the Mexican champion's body shots.
"I think I probably underestimated his power. He's a young, strong kid. He caught me with those body shots in every round and they took a toll on me. I think his body shots were fantastic all the way through the fight. He caught me with some head shots but it was the body shots, good body shots. To be fair, I think he rested in the eleventh round and put everything in that final round. I knew I was way, way behind, so I wanted to come out in that twelfth round and do the best I could, but again he caught me with those body shots. They just really took a toll on me and in the twelfth round he really caught me with those body shots. I just couldn't get out of the way of those body shots. He's 20-years-old and a superstar and he's going places," Rhodes said.
