WeeklySA_AdminFINAL COUNTDOWN: Ryder will be looking to crash the party as the popular Londoner travels to Mexico for the biggest fight of his 12-year career
By Sports Reporter
Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez will defend his 168-pound titles against British John Ryder, Saturday, at the Akron Stadium in Jalisco, Mexico. This Friday the official weigh-in of this fight took place. El Canelo checked in at 166.6 pounds, while Ryder stopped the scale at 167.9 pounds.
“Canelo” Álvarez (58-2-2, 39 knockouts). The second defense of his undisputed mantle, after defeating Gennadiy Golovkin, in the trilogy battle in Las Vegas, last September.
The Mexican champ will make an emotional return to his homeland over the Cinco de Mayo weekend and it will be the first time he has fought in Mexico for 4180 days, when he knocked out Kermit Cintron in Mexico City.
Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) will be looking to crash the party as the popular Londoner travels to Mexico for the biggest fight of his 12-year career. “The Gorilla” seings into this fight after defeating Zach Parker by technical knockout.
Ryder has a notable win against former world champion Daniel Jacobs and has traded punches in the ring with Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Rocky Fielding. The fight, which is promoted by Matchroom Boxing, will be televised on DAZN PPV and ESPN Latin America. For this fight, the WBC will award the Puebla-Jalisco belt to the winner.
The belt possesses a riot of color, from fiery reds and oranges tones to cool blues and exotic greens. His unique masterpiece piece has intricate details that make it special. The iconic China Poblana is located on one side, which represents a symbol of strength and resistance in Mexican culture. On the flip side the majestic Popocatepetl volcano, as a testimony of power and nature beauty.
On the Jalisco side, the belt pays homage to the region’s most famous crop: Agave (Plant that produces the typical Mexican liquor Tequila. It lays as a symbol of hard work and celebration.
Likewise, in the button panels there´s the charro suit, a symbol of strength, elegance, and poise; Finally, the volcano of Tequila is presented as a representation of the beauty of the Mexican West.
AUSTRALIA’S SCHEDULE TO SA ANNOUNCED
FIVE-MATCH ODI: The Proteas welcome Australia for the first time since 2020
By Sports Reporter
The Proteas will play three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia in South Africa in August and September. The tour will mark the start of the 2023-24 international home season, with Kingsmead set to host all three matches of the T20I series on 30 August 30, September 1 and September 3
The five-match ODI series will get underway at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on 7 and 9 September, before the third ODI is contested in Potchefstroom on 12 September.
Centurion will host the fourth ODI on 15 September, with the final match of the series to be played at the Wanderers on 17 September.
The Proteas welcome Australia for the first time since 2020, when the hosts bounced back from a 2-1 T20I series defeat to beat Australia 3-0 in the ODI series.
Meanwhile former Proteas pace bowler Craig Matthews is on record that South Africa has to reduce the gulf between its first-class cricket and Test cricket.
The Proteas finished 2022 on a low, with an innings-and-182-run defeat to Australia in Melbourne, which followed a six-wicket defeat in Brisbane inside two days.
That has seen them drop from second in the ICC Test Championship to fourth. Matthews, who played 18 Tests for South Africa from 1992 to 1995, believes the standard of the country’s first-class cricket is to blame for the Proteas’ woes.
“The current first-class system is not good enough to produce batsmen who are resistant to any bowling attack from a strong cricketing nation,” he told Rapport newspaper.
“Our six specialist batsmen are also not good enough at the moment. South Africa has become a second-rate Test country.
“The good pitch at the MCG exposed South Africa,” he added. “On pitches at home that are favourable for seam bowling, it narrows the gap between countries, such as between India and the Proteas early this year. The Aussies are lightyears ahead of us.
“Take Temba Bavuma. He is South Africa’s best batsman [with 561 Test runs at an average of 40.07 in 2022]. But in 53 Tests he could only score one hundred, and that while good batsmen hit a hundred every 10 innings.
T20I series
1st T20I – Wednesday, 30 August, Kingsmead (Durban, 18:00)
2nd T20I – Friday, 1 September, Kingsmead (Durban, 18:00)
3rd T20I – Sunday, 3 September, Kingsmead, Durban (14:00)
ODI series
1st ODI – Thursday, 7 September, Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein (13:00)
2nd ODI – Saturday, 9 September, Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein (13:00)
3rd ODI – Tuesday, 12 September, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom (13:00)
4th ODI – Friday, 15 September – SuperSport Park, Centurion (13:00)
5th ODI – Sunday, 17 September – Wanderers, Johannesburg (10:00)
