John Ryder outpointed Mike Guy in comeback fight after Callum Smith loss

John Ryder cruised to a straightforward unanimous decision win over Mike Guy on Friday night, his first fight since a controversial meeting with Callum Smith last year.

Smith is back in action on Saturday night in a WBA and WBC super-middleweight title fight against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, an opportunity that Ryder believes he unfairly missed out on.

Ryder was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Smith in his rival's home city of Liverpool in 2019 but still insists that he deserved to leave as a world champion.

He dusted off the cobwebs in Florida on the undercard to Gennadiy Golovkin's win over Kamil Szeremeta.

Ryder controlled a slow 10-round bout to earn all three judges' verdicts and extend his record to 29 wins from 34 fights.

He never came close to ending the fight inside the distance and instead seemed content to rack up the rounds under his belt.

Ryder had previously said about Smith's height advantage over Canelo: "It's going to work both ways, because Callum's going to have looked at me having success as a smaller guy.

"I think he's going to make himself smaller, drop his body down and get his full reach, rather than punching down all the time.

"He's going to try and really use that length of his arms to his advantage. Joe Gallagher (Callum's trainer) is meticulous in his approach and it will be interesting to see what style he comes out with.

"Whatever Callum does, he has to do well because Canelo is in a league of his own."