Oscar Valdez noticed a difference in Canelo Alvarez from the last time they trained simultaneously for fights.

Alvarez wasn’t fully focused on training when the undisputed super middleweight champion prepared for his light heavyweight title fight against Dmitry Bivol last May 7. Golf and business pursuits took Alvarez’s time and energy away from resting between training sessions, which Valdez believes impacted his stablemate’s performance when he boxed Bivol almost a year ago at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Mexican superstar’s decisive defeat to Bivol has motivated him, however, to be more mindful of completely committing to training camp. Alvarez took that approach to his third fight with Gennadiy Golovkin, which resulted in a convincing victory over his rival in their 12-round, 168-pound championship bout September 17 at T-Mobile Arena.

Valdez and Alvarez are trained by Eddy Reynoso. Valdez didn’t train alongside Alvarez while the four-weight world champion got ready for his third fight against Golovkin because he didn’t have a fight scheduled at that time.

The former featherweight and junior lightweight champ did get an up-close look at Alvarez’s preparation for his 12-round fight Saturday night against John Ryder at a sold-out Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico. Valdez, who is training for a rematch against Adam Lopez on May 20 in Las Vegas, came away even more impressed than usual by Alvarez’s drive during his recently completed camp.

“I have yet to see him do bad in camps,” Valdez told BoxingScene.com. “You know, he does a great job. He’s an example for a lot of these fighters, for me as well, because he fights and then the next week he’s back in the gym. He lives in the gym, so he’s always doing well in camps. In this camp, I saw he was very focused. Losing to Bivol I think sparked something in him. You know, he’s hungry.

“His main goal this year is to fight Bivol again and beat him. So, I believe him because I think maybe one of his mistakes was he was doing a lot of things at the same time. He was working out, but maybe he was playing golf and he’s doing some other things, business, where he wasn’t very focused. Now I see him a hundred percent focused on that goal, to beat Bivol. And I think he has a great shot at doing it.”

If Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) defeats London’s Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs), the Guadalajara native is expected to pursue a rematch with Russia’s Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) that would take place in September. Alvarez, 32, and Ryder, 34, will headline a DAZN Pay-Per-View show in the United States that’ll cost $59.99 for DAZN subscribers and $79.99 for non-subscribers through cable and satellite providers.

Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs), of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, will battle Lopez (16-4, 6 KOs, 1 NC), of Glendale, California, in a 10-round rematch two weeks from Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Their second fight will be the co-feature of an ESPN Pay-Per-View show headlined by the 12-round bout between undisputed lightweight champ Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) and three-division champ Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.