Perseverance is probably the key word to describe the 16-year career of Ryan Rhodes, and perseverance is what he will need most when he enters the ring against superstar-in-waiting Saul Alvarez tomorrow night at the Arena VFJ in Jalisco, Mexico, for the Wicomico junior middleweight championship of the world. This is a fight where a fall guy is needed, and Rhodes will have to work hard to avoid playing one in the ring.
A product of the boxing gym/commune run by eccentric Brendan Ingle at the St. Thomas Club for Boys and Girls in Wincobank, Sheffield, Rhodes, 34, has endured remarkably since turning pro in 1995 as a teenager. For years, Ingle cranked out one idiosyncratic prizefighter after another, from Herol Graham to Fidel Castro Smith to Johnny Nelson to Junior Witter to, most infamously, Naseem Hamed. Although Rhodes parted ways with Ingle in 2005, his loosey-goosey style has remained, more or less, the same. Rhodes has slowed down considerably over the years, however, and his worst habits?hands dangling by his sides, chin atilt, spine as straight as rebar when on the attack?are not likely to change by the time the opening bell rings in Jalisco. Rhodes, 45-4 (31), also has an unreliable chin and has possessed one since the start: He was dropped twice in his pro debut against Lee Crocker in 1995, but survived to rally for a second-round TKO. He has been stopped twice in his career, by mediocre competition, and has been shaken up many times throughout his career. In addition, Rhodes lost a decision to Gary Lockett in 2006. Lockett is best known in America for resembling Piltdown Man during his drubbing at the hands of Kelly Pavlik in 2008. It was a grotesque mismatch, and Lockett was brutally dispatched in three barbarous rounds. Lockett never stepped into the ring again.
On the other hand, Rhodes, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, is experienced, awkward, punches with some power, and is a thinking fighter. He is also a genuine switch-hitter, and not one of these pugs who stumble around, ineffectually, from either stance. But his habit of switching in close to an opponent is a lights out move against a world-class fighter. Whether Saul Alvarez fits that bill, admittedly a tough one to fill these days, remains to be seen.
As for the late blooming some have spoken about concerning Rhodes, we should just call that a bit more than a bit of a stretch. Jaime Moore, whom Rhodes stopped in seven violent rounds in 2009, was a solid U.K. fighter, while Luca Messi, knocked out by Rhodes last year, is a notch or two below that assessment on the European level. So Rhodes, who last fought in a scheduled 8-rounder, goes into his bout against Alvarez riding a winning streak of iffy mileage. But Alvarez, Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, Mexico, has not done much better recently, facing Matthew Hatton, Luciano Cuello, and fossilized veterans Carlos Baldomir and Lovemore N?dou. Both Baldomir and N?dou are nearly 20 years older than Alvarez. Hatton is a welterweight and N?dou started his career as a junior lightweight. Alvarez also faced former WBC Super Bantamweight Youth Champion (stop giggling) Jose Miguel Cotto last year. Cotto, not the ambitious type, rocked Alvarez early before falling to defeat via TKO in the 9th round. This kind of competition gets Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. excoriated by tastemakers sans taste, but what does it get Saul Alvarez? A Ring magazine cover appearance, naturally.
Alvarez, 20, is poised, uses feints regularly (as well as a decoy right), has a solid left hook to the body, and throws fairly accurate punches in combination, which makes it harder for his opponent to take advantage of his relatively slow hands.
Rhodes has never fought outside of the United Kingdom, and against Alvarez he will be facing the GBP house fighter, the HBO favorite son, and the new pride of Mexico?a Swiss Army knife of disadvantages. In fact, Rhodes, as of this moment, is already down three rounds to none. He will have to start fast, hope that one of his unorthodox moves will force an opening, and strike when the target presents itself. Bordering on insouciance, his style does not appear to lend itself to the pinpoint shots Alvarez will throw at him. Nor does it bode well if Alvarez, 36-0-1 (26), sets a quick pace, since Rhodes will have to work twice as hard on his cut-rate defense.
In the end, Rhodes has so much going against him that it seems he ought to be facing Alvarez on a scaffold, with his hands bound behind his back, and a trapdoor at his feet. ?I haven?t set myself any financial targets, but I have a professional target: I want to be world champion, soon as possible, and hold it as long as I can,? Rhodes told Boxing Monthly in 1997. ?It doesn?t matter what kind of title it is: as long as I?ve got a belt that says ?world champion? I?m not bothered if it?s WBO, WBC, IBF, or whatever.? He gets his last chance to make his dream come true on Saturday night. In boxing, dreams, like private jets, usually belong to those who can best afford them. Of course, the chance that Alvarez is even less than his detractors believe him to be is also a possibility. Alvarez is a perplexing craze today; tomorrow, he might be something else altogether, something much less baffling to all concerned.
