John Ryder hopes to put a frustrating two years behind him when he faces Daniel Jacobs at Alexandra Palace in North London on Saturday night as he aims to keep his dream of becoming a world champion alive. 

It was 2019 when he believes he did enough to claim the WBA super-middleweight title from Callum Smith, only for the judges to disagree. Since then he has been treading water, with two low-key wins, one in Florida and one in Austria.  

“It’s been a nightmare two years,” Ryder said. “2019 was a great year for me, I got to box in Vegas then I had the Smith fight. People see it as a bad thing, but I got a lot of credit from it. I still think I should have won. I had a lot of momentum and momentum is what I thrive on. 

“I was all set for a big 2020, looking to get off to a flier and then Covid hit. There were big fights planned for 2021.” 

That Ryder has got as far as he has is impressive, having lost three times for the British title. 

“There were some dark times when I thought that this might be it,” Ryder said. “I think I had that dogged determination in me to carry on and I believe I can do good things in this sport. 

“I think the proof is in the pudding, I have done, and I was right to continue.” 

There were times when Ryder even tried his hand at being a doorman working at nightclubs when he was not sure his boxing career would work out. 

“My sponsor sorted me out a doorman’s license and I was doing quite a bit of that on the doors with a few friends,” he said. 

“That was nice and there was more the social aspect of it. Boxing is so closed off, you work so hard in the gym, so to work on the door every now and again was quite a nice break, like-minded people, boxing people, so it was good. 

“I’m never afraid of hard work, I’m a hard worker. If I put my mind to something, I’ll succeed. I feel like I always had this will to win and succeed.” 

While Ryder feels, as many do, that he should have had his hand raise against Smith, he believes he did not face the Liverpudlian at his best. 

“I said it at the time that I believed Callum Smith was done in at the weight,” Ryder said. “I believe his struggles were massive to make 168 in the end. Looking at the explosiveness he showed in his last fight at 175, I was correct. 

“Danny Jacobs may be cracking on a bit in his career, but he’s still a massive threat. 

“I believe I’m still there and doing well, still breaking numbers in the gym. 

“I’m a very physical fighter as well. I’ve got that low center of gravity, I think here, I can show both sides of me.” 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.