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In a fight billed as the 'King is coming home', Alvarez extended his reign as the ruler of super-middleweight division.

After eight months out of the ring following surgery on his left hand, there were no signs of any effects of Alvarez's injury as he landed two thudding left hooks to Ryder's body in the opening round.

Ryder's task got all the more harder after Alvarez busted the challenger's nose two rounds later, leaving him with a bloodied face which would hinder him for the remainder of the contest.

He is a bullish boxer who vowed to take the fight to Alvarez, but he was forced on the back foot with Alvarez dictating the pace and stalking Ryder around the ring early on.

The crowd erupted in round five as Alvarez floored Ryder with a sensational left-right combination. Ryder staggered backwards before falling to the canvas. He got up at the count of eight but, with his legs still wobbled, did well to survive the round.

Ryder earned a lucrative, life-changing shot at Alvarez by becoming WBO mandatory and winning the interim title. But he was at times fighting on instinct. Whatever Ryder threw, Alvarez would hardly flinch.

Ryder was dropped in the eighth but it was declared a slip, before a sensational round nine.

Another Alvarez combination had the referee poised to step in, but a gutsy Ryder stood and traded with Alvarez, showing incredible heart and bravery.

"John came in to the fight when it looked like the fight was over," Hearn said. "He stayed in the fight. The more John threw the more success he was having. What a gutsy performance."

Ryder, needing a stoppage, began to land with more ease in the championship rounds. The result became inevitable, but the way in which Ryder recovered from those early and middle rounds, trading and landing on Alvarez, won the respect of the crowd.

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