Canelo Alvarez retains belt in Mexico homecoming vs. John Ryder

GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Against the backdrop of 51,000-plus passionate fans who waited nearly 12 years for their hero to return, Canelo Alvarez retained his undisputed super middleweight championship with a unanimous-decision victory over England's John Ryder on Saturday at Akron Stadium.

Canelo, boxing's top star, battered and bloodied Ryder and floored him in Round 5 but couldn't put the challenger away. Alvarez settled for the points win via scores of 120-107, 118-109 and 118-109. The 32-year-old fired home run right-hand shots down the stretch, but Ryder, whose nose bled profusely for most of the fight, showed immense courage to hear the final bell.

Alvarez hadn't fought in Mexico since his November 2011 victory over Kermit Cintrón in Mexico City.

"It's a historic moment for me," said Canelo, ESPN's No. 5 pound-for-pound boxer. "I'm glad to be here with my people who supported me from the beginning. I'm very thankful to be here and very thankful with my people. He's a very strong fighter, man. And when he's going for everything, they turn it on. [The opponents] are more difficult than usual, but I knew that. I'm in this position a long time ... and I respect my opponents because I know they're coming for everything."

The fight was Canelo's first since he underwent surgery on his left wrist in October. Alvarez said he pushed through the pain in his three previous bouts (most recently a decision victory over Gennadiy Golovkin in September to close out their trilogy) and that it hurt to even glove up in the locker room.

Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) plans to fight again on Sept. 16 (he routinely headlines on Cinco de Mayo weekend and Mexican Independence Day weekend) and there's only one matchup he has in mind: a rematch with light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.

When they met last May, Russia's Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) scored the upset to hand Canelo his second career defeat in a rout. That was Alvarez's second fight at 175 pounds, and afterward, he returned to defend his four 168-pound titles.

Canelo said Thursday that he's interested in the rematch only if it takes place at 175 pounds, while Bivol told ESPN that he will only accept the return bout for Alvarez's undisputed championship at 168.

"I want the same terms, the same everything as the last fight," Canelo said. "... I think I'm better than him -- that's it. If you see the first five rounds, six rounds, I dominate the fight. But then I get tired, of course, because I don't train at my 100%."

Eddie Hearn, who promotes both Alvarez and Bivol, told ESPN on Thursday that he'll start negotiations for the rematch next week.