John Ryder hoping to land Anfield shot at Callum Smith

After beating George Groves to win the World Boxing Super Series, Callum Smith made clear that he wants to fight at the football stadium Anfield, and John Ryder would like to be across the ring when that happens.

Ryder (26-4, 14 KO) returns to the ring on Saturday, facing Russia’s Andrey Sirotkin (15-0, 4 KO) in a super middleweight bout. It’s a WBA eliminator at 168 pounds, where Smith holds the “super world” title and Rocky Fielding, who faces Canelo Alvarez on Dec. 15, holds the “world” title.

“We talk about fighting in arenas, that’s big enough, but it doesn’t get bigger than fighting in a stadium, you dream of stuff like that. I think it’d be the first fight at Anfield, it’d be a great thing and is a real possibility. Although I’ve got a lot of respect for Callum and his family, this is boxing and I’m in the sport for big fights.”

The 30-year-old Ryder has won two straight over Patrick Nielsen and Jamie Cox, following a split decision loss to Fielding in April 2017. He’s got himself in the right position to make some big noise with a big fight, but he has to deal with Sirotkin before anything else.