
‘I think Terence Crawford will stand and trade with Canelo Alvarez’
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won’t be able to rely on a size advantage to defeat Terence Crawford, according to his former opponent Ryan Rhodes.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won’t be able to rely on a size advantage to defeat Terence Crawford, according to his former opponent Ryan Rhodes.

Ryan Rhodes knows first-hand the threat that Sergey Rabchenko poses to Kell Brook as they clash for the WBC Silver Super-Welterweight title on Saturday night at the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield live on Sky Sports – but expects Brook to shine on his debut at 154lbs. Sheffield star Rhodes met the Belarussian in June 2012 for the European Super-Welterweight title in Manchester, with Rabchenko stopping Rhodes with a body shot at the end of the seventh round.

Saturday’s salivating WBO Super-Welter interim title shoot out between seasoned Scouse star Liam Smith and rising Welsh warmonger Liam Williams at the Manchester Arena promises skill and savagery in equal measure.

RYAN RHODES admits it will be somewhat surreal to see his former promoter in the corner opposite him this Saturday night (October

British veteran Ryan Rhodes expects the early rounds to be tough for mandatory challenger Kell Brook (32-0, 22KOs), but eventually he sees his countryman breaking Shawn Porter (24-0- 15KOs) down and putting him away to capture the IBF welterweight crown at the StubHub Center in Carson, Califoria.

Less than a month away from heading across the Atlantic for the biggest fight of his life, Liverpool light heavyweight Tony Bellew remains confident that he can upset the odds and rip the WBC belt away from its current owner, Canadian power puncher Adonis Stevenson. Bellew believes that Stevenson may have one eye on a proposed unification fight with WBO boss Sergei Kovalev, who is also defending his title on the bill in Quebec City on 30 November. As a result, he might be looking past the former British champion, and perhaps even under-estimating him. Bellew will be quite happy if that proves to be the case.

When Ryan Rhodes posted a third-round win over Craig Lynch at Manchester’s MEN Arena back in June 2005 it seemed to many in attendance, this writer included, that the man who shot to fame when winning the British title from Paul “Sily” Jones in only his 11th fight was eking out the embers of a once promising career. Rusty and slow in the early going before applying the finishing blows, Rhodes looked far from even British title class that night going into the fight with Lynch on the back of a run of six wins since a 2002 third-round TKO loss to Lee Blundell.

Ryan Rhodes called time on his boxing career this afternoon when announcing his retirement after a 52-fight run that took in three world title shots and saw the stylish southpaw bring the British and European light-middleweight titles back to his home city of Sheffield. Rhodes, 35, announced his decision at a press conference after what he described as an “emotional week” of soul searching.

Ryan Rhodes has announced he is hanging up the gloves at the age of 35. The Sheffield-born boxer, who started out in the famous Wincobank gym alongside Prince Naseem Hamed, has decided to bring the curtain down on his 52-fight professional career after losing to Sergey Rabchenko in June. Rhodes - nicknamed the 'Spice Boy' - lost just six times in a topsy-turvy career, with three of those defeats coming when challenging for the world title. As a light-middleweight, Rhodes became the youngest post-war holder of a British belt when he defeated fellow Sheffield fighter Paul 'Silky' Jones in just his 10th bout as a pro. He stepped up to middleweight to challenge Otis Grant for the vacant WBO strap in 1997, only to lose by unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards. Rhodes again came up just short on the world stage against Gary Lockett nine years later, leading to him dropping back down to light-middle.

British junior middleweight contender Ryan Rhodes (46-6, 31KOs) plans to meet with his promoter, Ricky Hatton, to discuss his next career move.